Surprise
by Cho Koume
Summary: It sounded like a simple mission but not everything is as it seems. Hilarity ensues as the Paladins prepare for a special day but something unexpected might just ruin the fun. Dislcaimer: this is a work of fiction. Voltron: Legendary Defender and the characters therein belong to its creators
1. Chapter 1

In a time of war when darkness stretched all across the universe, there was one team of young individuals with the strength and determination to defend the innocent: the paladins of Voltron. As they flew through space aboard the castle of lions the team was always ready for a fight and would always rush to the aid of those in need. None of them would run from a challenge and this was no exception. A very difficult task lay before them and if they did not come together it would surely be disastrous. That's why they were all gathered together for a very important briefing…

…Or more accurately all but one of them were crammed together in a small storage room for the sole purpose of holding a secret meeting. And no one was happy about it.

"Seriously, Keith, why did we all have to come in HERE to meet of all places?" Lance whined, attempting to find some comfortable position in the corner.

"Yeah, like why didn't we meet in one of our rooms?" Hunk also asked, trying to be careful where he put his hands as to not offend anyone, particularly Pidge who was the only one who was somewhat comfortably situated.

"Because," Keith said with a groan, "Shiro would have noticed and our rooms were too obvious."

Coran and Allura exchanged confused glances and Coran shook his head. "I never will understand all of human traditions. To think, all this secrecy for a birthday party?"

"Well, YEAH, it's called a surprise party for a reason!" Lance replied, rolling his eyes.

Yes, this super special meeting was to discuss a special surprise party for one of their own: Shiro. Keith cleared his throat and began the meeting.

"Look I know this isn't fun so lets get right to the point. We only have a few days now before the party and we need to assign tasks. We already decided that Pidge and Allura will be in charge of decorations. Hunk and Coran will be responsible for preparing the food. That leaves Lance and I who will be working together to keep Shiro distracted so he doesn't ruin the surprise. We'll also be helping out with various tasks as needed."

"Yeah, that's all fine and good but we still have an issue." Hunk said. "In order to prepare party food we need to make a stop off someplace for supplies. Coran?"

"I looked at the star charts and did manage to find a planet nearby would be perfect for a supply run but there are some security concerns. After all, this part of space isn't known for being very friendly." Coran explained.

"That's alright." Keith assured him. "We can take a skiff and go down in a small group. That should be discreet enough to not raise any alarms. We'll be in and out and get back here before anyone knows we're gone. We'll take a long range communicator with us in case something goes wrong."

"Sounds good to me. Though lets hope nothing goes wrong. Please?" Hunk was getting very tired of seemingly simple tasks that somehow escalate to life-threatening adventures.

"Nothing to it, Hunk. We all have our tasks… does anyone still have any concerns?"

"UH, yeah, I'd say I have a concern." Lance said, looking even more bothered. "Just whose elbow is currently stabbing into my kidney? It's driving me nuts!"

"Hey, don't look at me! My hands are-"

"EEE!" Pidge squealed. "Hey, watch it!"

"You watch it!"

Everyone was now making so much noise in the small room that a passing Shiro overheard the noises and approached the door to investigate. When he pulled it open, however, everyone unceremoniously fell out onto the floor in a heap. Shiro rose a brow, unsure if he should ask what they were all doing or not but upon seeing him the group quickly scrambled back to their feet and sped off in different directions, claiming to have work to do and the like.

Keith let out a sigh as he walked back towards his room, Pidge on his heels. She looked up at her friend who looked like he had more on his mind than just party planning. Taking a shot in the dark she spoke up.

"You figure out what to give Shiro for his birthday yet?" The pursing of his lips was a clear enough answer.

"No… I don't have a clue what I could give him. I mean, he's like a brother to me… I want to give him something good."

"Keith, I think you're putting too much thought into this. It's the thought that counts, remember? As long as he has a good time then what does it matter what you have to physically give him?"

"I know, I know." Even so, Keith really wanted to present Shiro with a gift of some sort. Maybe, he thought, he could find something on their trip to the planet. He returned to his room for a short rest on his bed to think and a few hours later he and Hunk were preparing to leave, starting up the skiff. Shiro walked in to check on their progress. He looked notably concerned.

"Are you sure this trip is necessary, Keith?"

"Yeah. Coran asked us to go down and pick up a few things—you know, for the castle and whatnot." Keith lied, keeping his eyes on his work. It was easier to lie to Shiro if he didn't make eye contact. "It'll be a quick in and out sort of thing and we'll be back here before you know it."

"I guess…" Shiro couldn't shake the feeling of unease in his stomach. "Just do me a favor, will you?"

"What?" Keith finally looked up only to receive a flick on the forehead, making him glare. "What was that for?"

Shiro put on a smile. "Just a warning not to do anything reckless."

Keith pouted as Shiro walked off, waving over his shoulder. Somehow Shiro always had a way of embarrassing him, underestimating him… He'd prove he could handle anything on his own, whether it was a supply run or a surprise party.

With that, he and Hunk boarded and skiff and set off away from the castle…. With an uninvited passenger. Keith groaned, piloting the small craft while glaring daggers over his shoulder.

"Lance…" he said in a deep and displeased tone. "Why are you here?"

"Why? Because I was bored! Look, I'm not the fancy type to stay back and decorate. I'm a man of action! Exploring, scavenging, stuff like that!" Lance said, puffing out his chest and grinning ear to ear. "And besides, someone has to make sure you guys don't mess around!"

Despite his perfectly sensible explanation, Hunk had another theory of his own. "They asked you to clean, didn't they?"

His query was met with a long silence followed by several sighs of resignation.

"Honestly, you're hopeless."

"Dude, you can't tell me you'd want to stick around and clean up after us. Lets face it, man. We're slobs." Lance said, patting Hunk on the back. The other couldn't exactly deny this fact.

"Whatever." Keith said. "Lets just get this job done and go back."

"Fine by me."

It didn't take more than an hour to reach the planet and the paladins buckled in as they entered the atmosphere. After breaching some thick clouds the group looked down over a dense forest.

"It doesn't look inhabited…" Hunk commented. "I don't even see any small settlements."

Keith turned on their communicator. "Away team to Castle. Coran, can you hear me?"

"I hear you, Away team." Coran's voice came through clearly. "What's your status?"

"We did a quick fly-over but don't see anything dangerous." Keith found a semi-open clearing and set the ship down, waiting an watching for a moment before moving from their seats. "Can you tell us anything about this planet?"

"Hold on a moment…" Coran pulled up a bit of data from the castle's archives and gave it a silent look over. "There isn't much I can tell you, I'm afraid. I do know that this planet is commonly called "Nord" and the atmosphere is stable enough that you shouldn't have any trouble breathing. As for the life forms, they are still in a primitive phase in regards to their technological development. Should you run into them they shouldn't give you too much trouble."

"Phew…! That's relief!" Hunk sighed, starting to relax.

"Alright. We're leaving the ship then."

"Copy that."

The group took their bayards and some other supplies and exchanged glances before opening the door. Immediately they were assaulted by a horrific smell, causing them to cough and gag. They were quick to close the door again.

"Ugh…! What on earth is that awful smell?" Lance whined, his eyes watering.

"I think I'm going to be sick…!"

"Well let me see…" Coran responded, looking through the records some more. "Oh I see! Apparently in their tongue the word "Nord" translates to pungent stink bud."

"Stink bud? Are you serious?"

"Quite serious." Coran continued. "While the inhabitants may not pose any threat you do still need to watch out for the plant life. There is a particular yellow bulb that grows there that releases a nauseating scent. While you're walking around out there make sure to watch where you step. The smell wont last long but it'll still be enough to curl your nosehairs!"

"Right… We'll keep that in mind." The group decided it was time to break out the breathing masks on board before venturing back outside. The air was clearly murkier than other planets and small spores could be seen floating about.

"It must be pollinating season here…"

"Must be. Lets not stick around long enough to have this stuff permanently soak into our clothes, you know?" Lance said, already feeling dirty.

"Right." The group followed Coran's instructions and in time were able to gather several probably food items, loading them onto the ship.

"Ugh, I hope we can wash this stink off before serving them. I'd hate to prepare a stinky birthday dinner." Hunk commented, concerned about getting the whole team sick.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. And if it's no good we'll just shoot them out into space like nothing ever happened!" Lance always seemed to find humor in everything but Keith wasn't in the mood for joking around. During their hunt for food he had been searching for something, anything of interest to give to Shiro. So far he'd come away empty handed.

Right above them, thunder suddenly cracked and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees. The group looked up.

"That doesn't look good…"

Suddenly, Coran's voice came over the communicator again, but this time his voice sounded distorted. They only got bits and pieces of what he was trying to say. Lance, who was carrying it at this time, pressed it to his ear to try and hear.

"What was that, Coran? You're breaking up!"

"Paladins- - Storm—Dis-rtion—Sh—ld c-me back- -ship."

"Coran? Hello?" Try as he might that was all he could get. Looking back up at the others Lance frowned. "I can't get a good signal, you guys."

"It's probably electrical interference from this storm." Hunk said, eyeing the unfriendly clouds. "Looks like that's it for our little outing. We should head back."

"No." Keith said without hesitation. The others looked his way in confusion.

"What do you mean no? Look, there's a storm coming and now we've lost contact with the castle. We've got what we came for so lets just get on board and go back."

Keith knew Lance was right but he just couldn't leave yet. He glanced out into the dense wood and then back at his companions.

"I just need five more minutes, okay? Then we can head back." Without waiting for their permission- or more likely their complaints, Keith walked off and out of sight. Lance groaned and his shoulders slumped.

"What the heck is his problem, huh? Acting like a child… "Just five more minutes!" What a nuisance!"

"Ahaha…" Hunk laughed, shaking his head. "Leave it alone, Lance. He probably just has to take a leak or something."

"Out here? Whatever man! You couldn't get me to mess with this place and its creepy stink plants longer than necessary."

"Oh yeah…?" An idea popped into Hunk's mind, a wide grin forming on his face. He looked around the brush near the edge of the clearing before returning to Lance's side. He then held up a baseball-sized yellow object to Lance's face. It was clearly the culprit of the grotesque fumes permeating the air.

"You really wouldn't, say, play a risky game of catch with one of these? Not even on a dare…?"

The idea was absurd and stupid. Tossing it around would risk puncturing the soft outer shell and releasing the smelly, disgusting spores all over them. It was a good chance that direct contact with them would permanently ruin their nice clothes forever! Only a fool would risk playing catch with such a thing. Bu they had five minutes so of course they did it.

While they played their dangerous game, Keith was rushing through the woods, looking for something, anything that stood out. It would be weird to get Shiro flowers, and he wouldn't be interested in some weird bug- thing… especially one that looked like a beetle with acne. Groaning in frustration, Keith kicked a rock into the woods. The stone made contact with something nearby, resulting in a strange chime-like noise. Curious, Keith moved aside some thick foliage, finding himself before a large stone wall that looked like a giant crystal. It had a slightly opaque surface and inside were bits of fiery-red stones. It was mesmerizing… One ragged shard looked particularly interesting and he pulled his knife from his belt, stabbing it into the rock until the shard came loose and fell to the ground.

Keith knelt down and examined it, noticing how it looked like a small blade with a red sliver of stone directly in the center of it. Immediately, Keith knew this was what he had been looking for. It was perfect! Pocketing the stone, he turned to go back to the ship but immediately froze, hearing a rustling in the bushes. He ducked back down and hid as he heard strange voices speaking in a hushed tone followed by more rustling. They were moving past him… and in the direction of the ship.

By this point, the two buffoons had lost track of time and they'd both managed to hit the other with exploding balls of stink several times. Instead of an innocent game of catch, the game had evolved into a high-stakes version of dodge ball. They were laughing and taunting each other that neither noticed anyone had entered the clearing until Hunk turned around to collect more ammo. Instead he came face to face with a plasma gun. And the thing holding it… looked like a strangely un-threatening looking child-sized ferret wearing a face mask.

"Uh…" He was stuck silent for a moment as he saw other well-armed ferret-people emerge from the brush. "Uh, hi? Can I help you?" His friendly greeting was met with a hiss and a nudge of the gun.

"Okay, okay!" Hunk slowly backed up, meeting Lance who was also being threatened. "Um, Lance? What do we do?"

"Given that we're currently outnumbered and outgunned… I'd say running for our lives screaming would be a bad idea."

"I agree." Seeing as they didn't have any other options, the two put their hands up and were led out of the clearing slowly at gunpoint. Keith was nowhere in sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

.

Back at the castle Shiro was trying to keep himself busy while he waited for the group to return from their supply run by working out in their exercise room. Shirtless he was repeatedly punching a hanging bag- something he was mostly incapable of before receiving alien assistance in the form of his synthetic arm. It was a deep secret of his that his muscles were becoming increasingly problematic but now that seemed like a fading dream. It really did feel good to be able to work his body but even so, it wasn't helping to distract from the various questions flooding his mind.

There was an uneasy feeling forming deep inside him that he couldn't shake for the life of him. He wasn't sure if it had to do with all the whispering and sneaking around going on or if it was something else just beyond his comprehension but it was really starting to get to him. For several days the others had been actively avoiding him and he'd hardly seen Keith for more than a few minutes at a time. That was never usually a good sign. Not only that, but their little storage-closet meeting that morning was just too much.

Shiro's fist made contact with the bag several more times before stopping. He'd been going on punching while lost in his thought that he'd worn himself out, now struggling to catch his breath. He hated being avoided and kept out of the loop. When he wasn't involved chaos tended to occur and that wasn't something they needed. So Shiro decided to get to the bottom of it, taking a quick shower before wandering off in search of answers. He checked Pidge's room, the kitchen and a few other placed with no luck before stepping out onto the bridge. There he saw Coran, laying underneath one of the electrical consoles.

"Hey, Coran." Shiro said, announcing his presence. Coran looked up briefly and smiled.

"Hello! Can I help you with something?"

Shiro opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. Coran was a good guy… honest but a bit of an oddball. Surely he knew what was going on but Shiro had to wonder if he would even be able to decipher any bizarre response the man could give him. His mind was like a jumbled encyclopedia, after all. So, instead of asking his question he shrugged his shoulders.

"Just taking a walk."

"I see! Walking is good for the body and the mind!"

"Aha… yeah." Shiro cleared his throat and looked around. "Actually I was looking for one of the guys. You seen them around?"

"I'm afraid they haven't made it back yet." Shiro found that to be a tad odd…

"Really? It's been a while already…. I thought for sure they'd be back by now."

The worry on Shiro's face was obvious and Coran sprung to his feet to pat the young man on the shoulder.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. You know how those three can be."

"Yeah." That's what worried Shiro. "Can we contact them? Just to make sure they're staying out of trouble, I mean."

"Hmm… No can do, I'm afraid." Coran responded, looking back to his open console. "We seem to be picking up a bit of interference from a magnetic storm around the planet they flew off to. I'm trying to boost the signal so we have clear contact!"

Knowing that they were out of contact and out of reach did nothing to ease Shiro's anxiety. He couldn't explain it but he had the worst feeling about it. What if they were attacked and in need of help? What if one of them was hurt? He had half a mind to jump in the black lion and go chasing after them but another pat from Coran brought his attention back.

"Hey now, there's no need to worry. I'm sure they're doing just fine down there. They're resourceful boys, you know. I'm sure they'll be back on their way soon and the second I can get them on the radio you'll be the first to know."

"Yeah…. Thanks, Coran." Coran had a gentle way about him and his reassurance eased at least some of Shiro's worry. He smiled for the older man and turned back towards the door.

"Well, I'll leave you to your work. Let me know if you need some help."

"Will do! Though if you still need someone to talk to, I'm pretty sure Pidge is in the sitting room."

"Thanks!" With that, Shiro left for the sitting room and Coran went back to his work. After a few moments however he stopped and looked up.

"Hold up now… I feel like I'm forgetting something…" He thought about it for a about a minute before shrugging it off and continued with his task. In the sitting room, Pidge was sitting in front of a box labeled "party" looking through the various odds and ends they'd accumulated over the past few months. They had streamers, paper chain links and various decorations they'd made using objects they'd collected from alien worlds they'd visited. They so rarely had a chance to throw a party and celebrate so it was easy to forget what supplies they had. Pidge was looking around, trying to mentally decide where everything should go before looking up at the ceiling. I was at least 12 feet high…

"Hey Allura, do you think we could put some of these streamers on the ceiling?"

"I don't see why not!" Allura said, happily working on a banner for the party. "This is a happy occasion so we should go all out as you say?"

"Right!" Pidge smiled excitedly. "We've got plenty of supplies here so we can deck this place out top to bottom for the big day!"

"What big day?" Shiro asked, suddenly standing behind her. Pidge squeaked like a space mouse in surprise and quickly replaced the items in the box and covered it before looking back at her companion. Shiro did not look amused by her antics and crossed his arms as he gave her the look the others had dubbed "the dad face." Across the room, Allura was also trying to hide what she was doing and it didn't go unnoticed.

"Oh hi there, Shiro! Didn't hear you come in! How ya doing?"

"Pidge…" Shiro tapped his foot. "What are you doing in here?"

"Nothing! Not a thing!"

"Nothing, huh?" Shiro leaned over to see behind her but she moved at the same time, keeping the view of the box locked. This only proved to annoy Shiro more.

"What are you hiding from me?"

"Hiding? What makes you think I'm hiding anything?"

"Because you're acting suspiciously."

"Suspicious? Me? Allura, am I suspicious?"

"O-of course not!" Allura defended, unsuccessfully. Shiro was quickly losing his patience. Everyone was up to something and if those two were in on it then it definitely wasn't good. Before he could call them out on it, however, the door opened and in ran a frantic Coran.

"Red alert, red alert! Shiro's coming this way to hide the… party…" Shiro turned to face him and Coran stopped talking for a few seconds before turning his head. "Oh, well I guess he's already here. Nevermind."

"Party, huh?" Shiro looked back at Pidge, sighing heavily. "That's what you've all been hiding from me? That you want to throw some kind of party? Why hide that?"

"Well, you see…" Allura decided that the gig was up and that it was time to come clear. So she pulled the banner from behind her back and unfolded it. Shiro's anger quickly changed to surprise as he read the big letters reading 'happy birthday Shiro'. So much had happened during their time in space that it was easy to lose track of time. Apparently, Shiro had gone and forgotten his own birthday was coming up.

"You guys… were doing this for me?"

"We were." Allura said softly with a nod. "It was Keith's idea. Since you weren't able to celebrate it last year he wanted to surprise you with this party. He was adamant about keeping it a secret… I'm deeply sorry if we've upset you."

Shiro could only shake his head. He had gotten all mad at the others and especially Keith but now he felt guilty about it. He knew that when Keith set his mind to something nothing could stop him and his sudden seriousness finally made sense.

"You're not mad…?" Pidge asked, concerned by Shiro's silence. Finally Shiro looked up and smiled, shaking his head.

"No, I'm not mad. I just feel kinda bad now, just assuming you were all up to no good."

"Well to be honest, that's not an unfair assumption." Pidge said, relaxing. But I guess the secret's out now."

"…Maybe not." Shiro smiled and put a finger up to his lips. "You all worked so hard so I'll just pretend that I didn't find out about this. That way you guys can still throw your party and I'll act surprised! That way none of you will get heat for letting the party slip, okay?"

Pidge and Allura agreed and watched Shiro make his leave past an even more confused Coran.

"Wait, let me get this right… Now the one we were keeping the secret knows the secret and we're keeping secret that he knows the secret from the ones who wanted to make this secret in the first place?"

"Yeah I guess so." Pidge said, getting back to her work. Allura returned to her banner, giggling as she did so.

"Goodness…" Coran sighed, shaking his head. "I'll never understand your peculiar earth customs…"

While the others went back to their party planning and repairs, Shiro returned to his room, feeling lighter and happier than he had in days. He plopped down onto his bed and smiled up at the ceiling. What a nice thing they were all doing for him! It really made him feel special that they'd go to all this to make him feel appreciated on his birthday. While it was a nice sentiment to throw him a surprise party he didn't feel disappointed that it wouldn't really be a surprise. He just couldn't wait to see the accomplished smile on Keith's face… There was still something inside him that felt uneasy but it was far less noticeable. So, Shiro closed his eyes and sighed, deciding to take a nap while he waited for the others to return.

.

Meanwhile on the planet, two of the Paladins were in a bit of a position. Upon capture the boys were led into an underground tunnel system, their weapons confiscated and thrown carelessly into a room atop a pile of accumulated belongings that were no doubt taken from other unsuspecting travelers who were dumb enough to land on the stink planet. It was to their benefit that none of the creatures recognized their bayards to be weapons as that could have been problematic. Once inside the boys were shoved into a stone cell and locked in. They could have fought against their seemingly primitive captors but as Paladins they hoped to find a diplomatic solution to their problem. ….That worked for about forty minutes before Lance started shouting at the ferrets, demanding that they let them go while Hunk was sat on the floor, looking disgruntled but otherwise calm.

"Hey! Hey, listen here you little furry punks! We aren't the kind of people you wanna mess with, okay? It'll be real bad for you if you don't let us out of here!" The guards ignored his yelling, perhaps unable to understand his language and that only annoyed Lance more, pounding on the bars. "Hey! I'm giving you one more warning! If you don't let us outta here you'll be sorry!" One of the guards finally turned to face him and huffed, gesturing for Lance to step away from the door. Lance wasn't about to behave himself and reached through the bars hoping to grab the creature's seemingly harmless staff. That's when the guard screeched angrily at him. When Lance grabbed it the creature pressed a button which created an electrical current, shocking the Paladin. Lance yelped and fell back shuddering as he held his now-burnt hand.

"What.. the heck.! You're gonna regret that!"

"Geez, Lance, give it a rest will ya?" Hunk said, sighing heavily. "All you're doing is making them angry and giving me a headache at the same time."

"How can I give it a rest, huh? We're being held hostage by a bunch of… of… overgrown pets!"

"Yeah… it's kinda sad. If Keith found out he'dl never let us live this down…" Hunk sighed again, looking far less concerned about their situation than Lance.

"That does suck. But hey, at least down here we can't smell that icky plant thing."

"Who cares? I'd gladly take a bath in stinky plants than be stuck here."

"I'll remember that." While Hunk appeared to be relaxing he was actually making some interesting observations. "Hey Lance, I've been thinking."

"About what?" Lance said, taking a handkerchief and wrapping stinging hand.

"Well, this place seems kinda strange to me. Coran mentioned that the life here wasn't very technologically advanced and the state of this cell would confirm that. It's crudely constructed but efficient… Being underground means it's reinforced but not a place we'd wanna try to burrow out of, you know?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"Well, they've got some pretty advanced weaponry. You think they're scavengers, sneaking off with anything they find?"

"Yeah, that's why you should get up off your butt and help me get out of here, ya know, before they take apart our only way OFF this planet."

"What the heck do you think I'm doing, huh?" Hunk scowled at Lance.

"Honestly I don't have a clue. Looks like you're about ready to take a nap."

"Hey look here!" Hunk said, now fully glaring at Lance. "I'm thinking, okay? We can't just come off all half-cocked like you ALWAYS do because unless you forgot, we're outnumbered and outgunned!"

"Oh, EX-CUSE me!" Lance spat back, stomping over towards his friend, gathering at least some attention from the guards who had been ignoring them up until this point. "If you have any good ideas for once then lets hear it!"

"You know what, that's it!" Hunk couldn't take the attitude and lashed out at Lance, the two rolling around in the cell. The guards hissed and screeched at them but neither boy was willing to give in.

"Just you wait, I'll get us out of here and make you eat your words!" Lance yelled, pulling Hunk's hair.

"Yeah right! If you get us out of here I'll happily eat the next stink plant I see!" Hunk spat back.

While the guards were distracted by the fight, someone managed to slip into the corridor and threw a familiar yellow plant in their direction. Upon impact with the guard's head the plant exploded into a plume of pungent spores. The guard screeched and scratched at its face at the irritating smell as another plant came flying in, hitting the second guard. Lance and Hunk stopped wrestling and covered their faces to protect against the smell which caused the ferret creatures to collapse. Seconds later Keith came into view, holding a bag of the putrid plants.

"Keith!" They said in unison. Hunk looked at the bag and gave Lance a sideways glance.

"Uh, you know I was kidding about eating one of those, right?"

"Yeah, lets just forget about me preferring to bathe in them as well, deal?"

"Deal."

The boys jumped up and moved to the door as Keith was rummaging for the keys.

"Man it's good that you found us, Keith! We need to get outta here."

" Agreed. But…really guys?" Keith said with an amused smirk. "You seriously got kidnapped by some cuddly ferrets? That's kinda sad."

"Ugh! We know, we know! Just hurry up!" Lance knew this was coming but he still wasn't happy about it. The door clicked open and the Paladins rushed out, hearing some strange sort of alarm going off. They needed to retrace their steps through the tunnels to find their bayards so Keith ran in front to counter any attackers they should run into. When they reached the storage room the group collectively rammed the door until it opened, quickly retrieving their weapons. Keith and Lance started to leave but Hunk hesitated, looking a the pile of belongings.

"Hey guys, should we really just leave these here? What if-"

"Forget it, Hunk, we don't have time!" Hunk gave the items one last look before following the others around a few corners and finally upwards and out of the tunnel. Lance took in a sudden breath, hugging his arms as the cool air hit him. During their capture it had started to rain and it was easily ten degrees colder than before. The rain also made the ground slick and as the team ran through the woods towards the ship their shoes kept sinking into the soft ground. Keith could hear reinforcements approaching and looked back, seeing that his team was moving much slower than he was. He powered up his bayard and hurried them along.

"You guys take the lead! I'll hold them off while you start up the ship."

"Thanks, man!"

"Don't fall behind!" They called back as they passed Keith, disappearing into the brush. Two guards were standing watch over the ship, as expected, but Lance and Hunk were able to get the drop on them, knocking them unconscious before running aboard. Lance happily plopped down in the pilot's seat proclaiming "Shotgun!" as he fired up the main console. Hunk saw that some of their supplies had been unloaded so he hurried to reload them, dumping crates on top of each other in the engine room since it was closest.

"Ship's just about ready!" Lance called as Hunk made his way to the cockpit.

"That's good but where's Keith?" Both of them scanned the woods ahead of them hoping to see him emerge from the bushes but there was no sign of him anywhere.

"Should we go back for him?" Almost on cue Keith finally broke through the tree line, making a frantic dash for the ship. Hunk and Lance shouted for him to hurry as right behind him were a dozen furry attackers, each wielding dangerous unknown tech. Keith was going as fast as he could but suddenly he felt something slip from his pocket which caused him to stop. Looking down he saw the crystal dagger, Shiro's present, laying in the mud. There was no way he was leaving it behind so he ran back to it, much to the displeasure of his teammates. In a swift movement he fired some warning shots at the incoming enemies as he slid to a stop, scooping up the treasure before making another run for the ship. He thought that was a smooth move!

Unfortunately, this delay allowed his enemies to close the distance and one was wielding a strange crossbow looking weapon. He took aim at Keith and pulled the trigger, the sound of it causing Keith to turn back, catching a sharp projectile in the abdomen. The pain hit him suddenly and the force of the hit put him into a spin before he faceplated into the freezing mud.

His teammates called out to him, shouting as loudly as they could but Keith could hardly hear them. He grunted and tried to push himself back to his feet, gripping the shaft of whatever had gone into him but touching it even slightly caused pain to shoot through his whole body, sending him back down to the ground. He tried to suppress a scream of pain but couldn't, practically curling in on himself. The wave of pain passed after a moment, leaving him feeling strangely numb- he barely noticed the rain pounding down around him, soaking him through his clothes. His vision was swimming as he struggled again to get to his feet, the slick mud making his movements difficult.

As he looked up and saw the bleary image of the ship he thought he saw it moving. Were the others going to take off and leave him behind? Some part of Keith thought he deserved that. If he hadn't gone back for his stupid birthday present then he would have made it onto the ship no problem. They should leave him behind he thought, les they all get captured again or worse. He closed his eyes, lowering his head onto the ground, letting out a shaky breath.

"Keith!" The next thing Keith knew he was being lifted up off the ground, his arm being slung over slender shoulders. Keith opened his eyes again and saw Lance's worried face.

"Hang in there, man, I got you!"

"Lance…"

From the open hatch, Hunk was laying down cover fire for them but as soon as the three were safely on board the door closed quickly. Lance helped Keith inside and helped him to sit , getting him a nearby towel to clean himself off as before returning to the pilot's seat, initializing the launch with Hunk's help. The ferret creature opened fire on the ship but their weapons were hardly making a dent. Soon, the ship lifted off and Lance let out a delighted laugh.

"Woo-hoo! See ya later, furry little punks! We are OUTTA here!" The ship climbed up high and fast, making the group feel safe at last but before they could breech the atmosphere, some part of the ship let out a strange noise, much like a whimper. Everyone exchanged terrified glances as the ship stalled. Yells of glee were immediately replaced with screams of absolute terror as the ship started to fall.

"Lance, what did you do?!" Hunk yelled, gripping his seat for dear life.

"I didn't do anything, I swear! Those things musta messed with something on the ship!"

"Well if we don't find it fast, we're gonna be pancakes!"

Lance tried his best to maintin some power to fire the thrusters which bought them some time while Hunk rushed around checking systems left and right. He finally noticed that one of the consoles had been tampered with and wires linked up to the system controlling the thrusters were cut. Knowing they didn't have much time he tried to reattach them quickly. But that wasn't their only problem. An indicator light on Lance's console kicked on and was blinking at him.

"Uh, Hunk? This thing says we're losing power!"

"What? Can't be! The main power is linked to the converters in the engine room!"

"Shoot! Do you think they swiped one of our power converters?"

"Maybe! But we do have a spare so you can just head back to engineering and-"

"And what?! I'm currently trying to fly a falling ship!"

"Well I'm trying to keep us in the air, moron!"

"WHY ARE WE ALWAYS YELLING?!"

"BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

"Hunk!" They were just barely able to hear Keith's voice over the communication system from the engine room in the back of the ship over their arguing. Glancing back Lance saw that he'd somehow gotten up out of his seat and made his way back there without them noticing. His voice sounded strained and it, like the long range communicator, was picking up interference.

"Keith, what're you doing? Didn't you get hurt?"

"I'm fine!" Keith lied, struggling to even stay on his feet with the shooting pain. Still, they needed an extra hand and he wasn't about to let them all die. " Hunk, where's the spare converter?"

"It's, uh…" Hunk had to think about where he saw it last as he was packing in supplies before.

"Hunk! There's no time!"

"I know, I know! It's uh in the corner! Behind a crate of…. Blueish purple fruit-thingies!" Keith acknowledged and carefully made his way across the room, finding it difficult to move what with the sudden loss of gravity during their freefalls and the seconds of gravity when the engines kicked back on. When he got there he all but shoved the crates aside until he saw their spare wedged behind a much heavier crate. Trying to push it aside was too difficult so he reached for it, trying not to let anything come into contact with his wound in the meantime.

His fingers brushed against it, almost able to grab it but when the engines kicked on once more it thrust him right into the crate, forcing the foreign object further into him. Keith let out a breathless yell, his vision temporarily going black as the pain washed over him again and again.

"Keith, did you find it? Keith? Hey Keith!"

"Keith, hurry!"

They were calling for him, counting on him… Despite the pain, despite the risks, Keith forced his body to move, reaching again for the converter, this time taking it firmly in his hand. It was a slim glowing disk and as he scanned the room he managed to see where it went through his blurry vision: an open and empty slot on the far wall console. Biting his lip Keith move again, using the periods of weightlessness to propel himself over to the console quickly. It was difficult to fit it into the tight slot as his body was shaking but when he got it in he was relieved. For a second or two.

"Hunk it's jammed! It wont go in!" He tried over and over to push it in but he just didn't have the strength to force it.

"Guys, I can see the trees!" Lance yelled!

"Oh man, this is it! If I knew I was gonna die today I would have swiped a donut on the way out of the castle!" Hunk had finished repairing the controls but there just wasn't any time for him to run back and help. They were really starting to panic now. But Keith was not willing to give up. So, taking a deep breath Keith floated away from the wall and let out a loud yell as he slammed his foot against the disk, forcing it in all the way.

The ship's systems kicked back on immediately, giving Lance only had a fraction of a second to react. He fired the thrusters on maximum power just seconds before they hit the tops of the trees, the ship creaking loudly at the sudden action before they were propelled upward again, through the clouds and finally back out into space. They had finally made it off the planet but the final burst proved to be too much for the engines to handle. With a pitiful sputter they shut down along with the gravitational systems and a few others, leaving the ship floating just outside of the plant's atmosphere.

Still, they were alive and that was a big relief. Hunk floated around freely, his fingers tingling from handling the hot wires and Lance sunk down in his seat after prying his fingers away from the controls, grateful that he'd at least buckled up.

"Oh… my… god… We almost just died…." Lance whimpered. "I think I'm gonna cry."

"Go ahead. I think I'm about to throw up…" Hunk said, already holding a hand over his mouth. Lance let out a jittery chuckle.

"Ahahaha… please don't." After catching his breath, Lance reached out and pressed the com button.

"H-hey, nice job back there. You really saved our butts, you know?" Strangely there was no response on the other end so Lance tried again. "Keith? Hey, you okay back there? Keith? Keith?!"

Lance kept calling for him but Keith didn't respond. He could hardly hear the worried calls as he floated around the room curled into a tight ball as several droplets of blood floated all around him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Keith? Keith, are you there?" Hunk and Lance called out to their comrade from outside the engine room door which had sealed itself shut during the power drain. They tried to override the controls without success and were now attempting to pry open the door, though working in zero gravity was proving to be difficult and with no response from the other side of the door they were beginning to worry.

"Come on, Keith at least make some noise so we know you're not dead in there!" The two stopped working and Lance put his ear to the door for several seconds. It was faint but soon he could hear a soft clang of metal on metal.

"Is that you, Keith? Do it again!"

It was softer but the clanging repeated itself. That was affirmation enough to hurry the boys along. They put as much strength as they could muster into the door until it finally opened an inch with a creaking sound before sliding all the way open suddenly. It caught the boys off guard but it wasn't as surprising as the sight before them. Fruit was floating all over the room amidst crimson orbs and in the middle of it all was the curled body of their friend. He was in the middle of the room while his bayard was floating closer to the far wall as though he'd pushed it away from him to create the sound they heard. Lance floated towards Keith while Hunk moved to the console.

"Hunk, see if you can get this thing back up and running!"

"I'm on it, I'm on it!"

Turning back to Keith, Lance lightly touched him, turning his body so he could get a look at Keith's face.

"Keith, are you alright?"

Keith's eyes opened and it was clear that he wasn't okay in the slightest.

"I wish I could say yes…"

"Yeah you don't look so good. Where does it hurt?"

"My…" Keith moved to point to his abdomen but even the slightest movements sent a wave of pain through him.

"Okay okay, I got it just don't move."

Lance pushed open Keith's jacket and cringed at the sight of the thin projectile sticking out of him. He hadn't noticed it during their escape from the surface but he wished he had.

"Oh geez… Keith…" Lance's hands trembled a bit as he floated there clueless. He didn't know much first aid and in this situation he didn't have the foggiest idea of what to do. Keith was clearly in pain and bleeding out, albeit slowly but he didn't want to worry his friends so Keith forced a smile.

"Hey, come on…what's that look for? I bet I still look better than you right now."

"Yeah… right…." Lance looked up at Hunk who met his gaze before turning back to his work, rerouting power.

"You just hang in there okay Keith? I'm gonna try to get us moving again in no time."

"Don't worry about me." Keith said softly. "I'll be fine as long as I don't mo-"

Suddenly the lights and power kicked back on and without warning they all fell to the floor. Luckily Keith didn't fall on his wounded side and Lance was able to position himself over his friend to protect against the falling fruit.

"Hunk!" Lance scolded as he sat up, shoving the fruit away as Keith groaned in pain.

"Oops… sorry! But hey, I got some things working at least!"

"The engines?" Lance was hopeful but Hunk regretfully shook his head.

"I got the life support systems working, lights and gravity… but there's not much more I can do. There's just not enough power."

"Geez…"

"What about the radio…?" Keith asked, looking around.

"Oh!" Lance remembered seeing it last in the cockpit but that was before everything went flying about. He stood up quickly. "I'll find it! Hunk, keep an eye on him and I'll be right back!"

"Got it! Stay there, Keith!"

"Not like I'm going anywhere." Keith rolled his eyes but doing so only made him feel dizzy. Lance rushed out the door, hoping it wouldn't decide to close again and made his way back to the cockpit which was in shambles with broken glass and other bits of debris. The travel packs they'd brought with them were strung about the cabin so locating the small communicator was no easy feat. He only hoped it didn't break during the fall. In his search Lance was able to locate an emergency medical kit under one of the seats as well as some blankets in one of the compartments. He let out a frustrated groan.

"Where is it?!" In his anger he kicked one of their backpacks, unknowingly uncovering their communicator. He gasped and quickly picked it up, switching it on.

"Hello? Castle this is Lance! Coran are you there?"

At the castle, everyone had begun to worry about the lack of communication from the team an so Pidge was helping Coran adjust their signal in the hopes of reestablishing contact. Finally, after nearly three hours without word Lance's voice reached them.

"Ah there you are!" Coran said with a deep sigh of relief. "Sorry about that, we encountered some interference and wasn't able to reach you. How are thing going? We thought you'd have been back by-"

"Sorry Coran but I don't have time to explain right now! We've run into a major problem and need your help! The ship is a dead stick and we need immediate evac! Do you copy?"

"Y-yes I copy!" Coran replied, exchanging looks with the others. "What seems to be the problem?"

"We have a medical emergency, Coran! Keith is…" That was all they needed to hear. Allura immediately moved into position to move the castle in the direction of the planet with Coran's help and Pidge took off, running right for Shiro's room. Shiro had been sleeping soundly until the suddenly jolt of the ship awoke him. He blinked his tired eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, noting the low hum that the ship made while in motion. He was about to get up to investigate when his door opened and an out of breath Pidge poked her head in.

"Pidge? What's going on? Is the ship movin?"

"Y-yeah. We're going to pick up the guys!"

"Pick them up?" It was strange that they hadn't come back by now and Shiro hated that his first thought was that they'd gone and caused some trouble somewhere.

"What'd they do this time?"

"It's not like that, Shiro. There's been some kind of an accident. Keith's hurt!"

Shiro's eyes widened and his heart just about stopped. The sickening ball of worry once again churned in Shiro's stomach as the two of them bolted towards the bridge. Shiro's mind was racing and though he tried to ease his anxiety it just wasn't working. He just kept hearing those words over and over. Keith was hurt, hurt enough that they had to go get them and here Shiro was relaxing like nothing was wrong!

They ran as quickly as they could but when the door to the bridge opened the first thing Shiro heard was Keith's voice and he was screaming. It actually struck him stiff as a board. He held his breath as he heard the strained cries of pain over the communicator along with Lance and Hunk's trying to comfort him. The two were trying to move Keith to a less crowded part of the ship that wasn't full of fruit, laying him down in the cockpit.

"Shiro?" Pidge shook Shiro's arm, looking up at him worriedly. The elder paladin took the hint and moved closer. Coran moved aside to let him sit at the communication console.

"This is Shiro…"

"Shiro? Man I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! It all happened so fast and-" Lance apologized repeatedly, speaking so fast that it was hard to hear him.

"Lance, take a breath and as calmly as you can tell me what happened down there."

Lance tried but he was struggling so Hunk took the radio.

"It was all going fine and we were about to leave when we encountered the natives. Only they weren't as harmless as we thought they were. They had some advanced weapons, stolen from unsuspecting saps like us and they took us captive. Keith got us out of there but then he got shot and-"

"He was shot?! Like, with a bullet or was it a laser?" Pidge asked, stepping closer.

"N-not exactly…"

"Well that'd he get shot with? If you can tell us that then we can talk you through first aid."

"Well it's … it's like an arrow thing but not like something from earth. It's metal and thinner than we have on earth."

"An arrow…?" Coran was curious. "Does it have any strange markings on it?"

"Let me check. Sorry, Keith…." The boys worked together to move Keith from his side onto his back but the movement still caused Keith to yell out- but as they lifted his shirt they soon found out why it hurt so much.

"Oh what the heck! It's moving! The thing is moving!" Hunk shrieked, falling back a bit.

"What do you mean moving?"

"I mean it's moving! It's- it's spinning and looks like it's going deeper in!"

Shiro looked up as Coran leaned in closer suddenly.

"Is it spinning clockwise or counterclockwise?"

"DOES IT MATTER?!" Lance yelled finding the question ridiculous.

"Yes it matters! Tell me quickly!"

"Ugh!" Lance leaned in to get a better look, the end of the object barely sticking out anymore. "Counter clockwise!"

"Counter…" Coran put a hand to his face as he thought to himself. "Just as I feared… it sounds like he got hit with a digger dart. They're popular amongst deep space pirates and are no laughing matter. For such peaceful creatures to use such a weapon…"

"Peaceful my butt!" Lance said, shaking his head. "This thing is just going deeper. Can I pull it out or what?"

"No!" Shiro shouted. "Absolutely not! The number one rule is that you never pull out a penetrating object unless you have the right medical equipment to treat it. If you do Keith could bleed to death in minutes!" Lance and Hunk paled.

"Well we can't just leave it there! What do we do?"

Coran quickly searched the archives and pulled up what data he had on the dart in question.

"Here it is. The Archenian digger dart is designed to burrow inside its target in order to inflict pain but unless it hits a major organ it wont be immediately fatal. However, any sudden movement will cause it to move faster so it's important to stay as still as possible." He turned to Shiro, his voice softening. "The sooner we get to him the sooner we can treat the wound. I can remove it once he's back aboard the castle but we can't risk it until then."

"Right. You hear that? Make sure not to move him too much."

"That's fine but what if this thing already hit something important?"

"You can check for yourselves but you'll have to feel around."

"Come again?" Hunk looked almost horrified.

"Very carefully move your hands around the wound without touching the end of the dart and tell me if you can feel the tip."

Lance and Hunk exchanged glances and they each rose a hand as though to play janken to decide who would do it but ultimately Lance volunteered for the task. He said a soft apology and Hunk held Keith's hand while Lance's fingers touched Keith's stomach. He didn't want to apply too much pressure but as he felt around the wound he couldn't feel anything resembling a tip.

"I don't… I don't feel anything."

"I know it's difficult but you need to press harder, Lance." Lance took in a big gulp of air and Keith gave him a slight nod. Hesitantly he pressed down more and Keith clenched his jaw to hold back his voice. The grip on Hunk's and tightened and the larger teen had to shut his eyes as a bit of blood leaked from around the wound.

"Lance?" Shiro whispered. "Lance, do you-"

"I can feel it. J-just barely but… It feels like it's in pretty deep." He finally let up on the pressure and Keith unclenched his jaw, panting heavily. "It's bleeding more now, too. What do we do, Shiro?"

Shiro knew what to say but hearing how much pain Keith was in was just so hard for him. If he were there Shiro could treat him himself but he wasn't. Shiro felt so helpless… Keith was hurting, maybe dying and he couldn't do anything! His hands clenched tightly but Allura set her hand gently on his shoulder for comfort.

"We'll get to them soon… For now, they need you to be strong." Her words helped, even if only a little and Shiro gave the boys instructions.

"Until we get there you need to keep him still and comfortable. Roll him onto his side to take weight off the wound and use whatever you can to patch up the area around the wound. You don't want to push it in any deeper or pull it out but you need to control the bleeding. Make sure you keep him warm and alert, too."

"Right." Hunk and Lance did the best they could to make Keith comfortable and once he was settled back on his side the waves of pain died down again. Keith's eyes closed softly but a gentle tap on his cheek prompted them to open.

"Hey, come on now. Gotta stay awake, you hear?"

"I'll try. Just so tired…"

"Here." Lance set the communicator in Keith's open hand so that he could hear Shiro's voice more clearly.

"Shiro…?" The strain in Keith's voice broke Shiro's heart.

"I'm here, Keith. I'm right here…"

"..." Keith couldn't help the tears that were forming in his eyes. "Shiro I'm sorry. I promised I wouldn't be careless…"

"You have nothing to apologize for, okay? This isn't your fault."

"But it is. It is my fault, Shiro. All this was my idea and-"

"No, Keith." Shiro interrupted him. "It's just an accident. So I don't want you to blame yourself. Just hang in there. We'll come get you soon and then it'll be alright."

"Sure…"

Pidge and Allura stepped back to let the two talk. If anyone could comfort Keith now it was Shiro. But this was a dire situation and Allura was greatly concerned.

"Do you think we'll make it in time?" Allura asked quietly.

"Keith is a tough guy but that wound sounds serious."

"Yes it does. I don't know how resilient human bodies are but they seem so frail to me."

"Oh they're not and Keith's stubborn. He wouldn't give up easily." Pidge crossed her arms. "The real worry is the risk of shock. If he can stay stable until we get there then he stands an okay chance…"

"I was hoping for a more positive answer…" Pidge only wished she could give her one. For now all they could do was hope.


	4. Chapter 4

The Paladins had fought some hard battles and walked away from things most people wouldn't be able to handle emotionally but compared to that, waiting was far harder. Lance and Hunk could do little but pace back and forth as they waited for the castle to make its way to them so they could treat Keith but the ship couldn't jump directly to their location because it was too risky. With the electrical interference it was difficult to exactly pinpoint their location. If they weren't careful the castle could run right into them. So, they were forced to take the slower, more direct route towards the planet. In the meantime they had to closely monitor Keith's condition, but it wasn't going well.

Shiro stayed on the radio talking to Keith for the past forty minutes but Keith's responses were getting quieter and slower. His eyes were struggling to stay open and his breathing had changed.

"Keith?" Shiro called softly, feigning calm. "You still listening?"

Keith's eyes had closed again but fluttered open when Hunk laid a hand on his forehead.

"What…?"

"Shiro asked you a question, buddy."

"Oh… Sorry. I missed it…"

The boys frowned and Shiro asked for another update.

"How's he doing, guys?"

"Not so good." Lance replied, checking the makeshift bandages which Keith was bleeding through again. To his dismay, the end of the dart was barely visible as it was still burrowing into his body. "He's still bleeding and he's looking pale." Grabbing Keith's wrist Lance frowned. "And his pulse rate is high."

"Damnit." Shiro said under his breath, looking back at his worried teammates who were doing all they could to hurry.

"Shiro? …Shiro?"

"I'm here, Keith." Shiro turned back to the communicator. "I'm still here."

"How much longer…?" Shiro wished he could give him an answer. He bit his lip, taking a moment to steady himself before responding.

"We'll be there any minute now."

"You said that…. Any minute ago." That response almost made Shiro laugh.

"Yeah well I mean it this time. We're really close, I promise. We'll get you back on board, take that thing out of you and you'll be—you'll be good as new."

"Don't bother…"

Keith's eyes closed again and his response sent shivers down everyone's spines. Lance tried to smile, shaking Keith's shoulder lightly.

"Hey now, what's that supposed to mean? Keith?" He shook him again until he started to cough. It sounded wet and hoarse but his eyes reopened soon after.

"Lets face it," Keith said softly. "I'm not gonna be here… when they get here."

"Knock it off, Keith." Shiro said in a more commanding tone. His voice was no longer shaking. "That's not true. You're going to be fine, you hear? So don't you dare give up on us!"

"But I'm so tired… and cold…." His body had been shivering for a while but there was only so much they could do to keep him warm. The heating system was one of many that Hunk was unable to restart. Instead, the boys started to rub his arms and legs, trying to warm him.

"We'll get you warmed up again soon, okay? Just hang on."

Shiro looked back at Coran when he made a sound of relief. Finally the planet was coming into view! However, it was still difficult to exactly pinpoint the small ship.

"We're close! Pidge, are you ready to tow them in?"

"Roger that!" Pidge had gone ahead to her lion and was outside of the ship prepared to collect the ship as soon as they found it. Seeing as they were so close, Shiro grabbed a portable communicator and left the bridge, running towards the hangar.

"Guys, we're here! We just need to find you in orbit and then we'll get you on board!" he reported hopefully though out of breath.

"That's great! Hunk, can you scrounge up enough power to boost the signal for them?"

"I'm on it!" Hunk jumped up and ran to the other room to do just that and Lance looked down at Keith who had closed his eyes again.

"Keith?"

"I'm tired…"

"You can't sleep, Keith. If you fall asleep you might not wake back up. Besides, they'll be here any minute!"

"That's not it…" Keith's breathing was becoming more ragged and his coughing fits more frequent.

"I'm tired… o-of always messing up. Always being a disap-pointment. You don't need s…someone like that on the team. Voltron doesn't…"

"Keith… Don't say that! Come on, this team is nothing without you! Yeah you're an impulsive hothead but we kinda like that about you, don't we Shiro?" Lance was trying to be comforting but he was starting to break down, seeing Keith deteriorating.

"Keith, don't you dare think about dying on me!" Shiro picked up the pace. "Pidge! Do you see them?"

"I don't…" She was scanning ahead without any luck until she picked up a low frequency noise. Following it she finally saw the ship come into view, stuck in the planets' gravitational pull. "Yes, I see them! Moving in to make contact!"

"Good! Coran, stop the ship and get to medical! We'll need you there!"

"On it!" The ship finally came to a stop and Lance moved to the front of the ship as the green lion came into view, cheering.

"Woo-hoo! Boy are you a sight for sore eyes!"

"Hey, Lance! Sit tight, okay? I'm going to pull you in so it might get a little rocky!"

"Got it! Keith, we're gonna make it!" Lance felt the ship move and almost lost his balance but he was still smiling. He looked back at Keith but the smile quickly faded from his face as he noticed his companion wasn't moving. "Keith?" Slowly Lance moved back to Keith and knelt down, shaking his shoulder gently.

"Keith? Hey come on. What'd we say about closing your eyes, huh?" He shook him again, tried tapping him on the cheek but Keith didn't respond. "C'mon, Keith, this isn't funny. Open your eyes!" Lance shook him more insistently but when he did he noticed something he hadn't before: the trail of blood leaking from his lips. Lance wiped the trail from his lips, smearing blood across his cheek but more came out. On top of that Keith was no longer moving or speaking.

"K-Keith, this isn't funny…" Hunk reentered the room with a smile but his quickly faded away as he knelt down by them.

Pidge was quick in bringing the small ship back aboard and once the hangar was sealed Shiro rushed aboard the ship.

"Keith?!" Lance looked up at Shiro with a hopeless expression.

"Shiro… He's not…"

Shiro's eyes widened and he fell to the floor by Keith, the others moving away to give him room. Shiro shook Keith by the shoulders, hoping to get a response before pressing an ear to his chest.

"Shit! His heart stopped!" He knew he needed to get Keith to Coran but if he couldn't get his heart started then he wouldn't make it there. As quickly as he could he ripped open Keith's shirt and put his hands in position, pressing down on his chest.

"One of you needs to give him air when I say so!"

"R-right!" Lance was the first to act, following Shiro's instructions to lift his chin before taking a deep breath and blowing into Keith's mouth. Shiro resumed his compressions and Lance continued to breathe for several minutes. Pidge had come on board and took over for Lance when his shaking got too bad that he couldn't breathe deep enough. Shiro knew he was being a bit rough with his compressions but a broken rib or two was better than death. He stopped after another minute and pressed his ear to his chest again. Still nothing so he resumed compressions.

"Come on, Keith! Breathe, damnit! I'm not going to let you die here! Breathe!" In his haste his hands slipped and the group heard a sickening snap followed by a deep gasp. Keith's eyes shot open suddenly and his body lunged forward, letting out a breathless yell before falling backwards again.

"Keith!" Shiro cradled Keith's head as the boy struggled to breathe but he was breathing all the same. "Hold on, Keith. I've got you!"

The boys helped Shiro lift Keith up into Shiro's arms and watched as the older man took off running towards the medical bay. Keith was struggling to breathe, trying desperately to say something but at this point he was only succeeding in sputtering blood all over himself and Shiro.

"Don't talk, Keith! Save your strength! You'll be fine! Just stay with me!"

Keith's eyes closed again but Shiro didn't stop running. He nearly ran into Allura who had come to get them. She stopped dead in her place at Keith's dreadful state and didn't move until the others came running down the hall after Shiro.

Coran was already set up by the time Shiro made it to him, laying Keith's trembling body on the table. The movement had caused the dart to sink completely into Keith's body, moving in an upward motion causing his wound to bleed even more heavily. As a result, Shiro's side was now soaked with his brother's blood. But Coran was thankfully calm and focused, immediately assessing Keith's condition.

"He's lost a lot of blood and it would seem the dart may have punctured one of his major organs." Coran wasn't completely familiar with human anatomy but he was still confident that he could remove the dart without causing further injury. Once that was done they could place Keith in the rapid regenerator to heal.

"I think I broke one of his ribs performing CPR, too."

"This isn't good. We need to act quickly. Do you know his blood type?"

"I can give him my blood! I've done it before."

"Good."

Given the time constraints Coran decided to hook Shiro directly up to Keith to give him blood more quickly. When the other paladins ran in, Coran asked them to restrain Keith. In his condition it was too dangerous to put him under so they had no choice. They worked together, holding down his arms and legs while Shiro positioned himself over his torso. Once he was still, Coran felt carefully around the wound before taking a breath and making an incision. Keith's eyes opened wide and he arched up off the table unexpectedly. The boys had to push him down more forcefully so Coran could get back to his work, deepening the cut before sticking his fingers inside him, manually searching for the dart.

The whole time Keith was screaming and struggling to move. Though it was painful none of them could move a muscle. They were all tearing up, trying to comfort him, as well as themselves as Coran attempted to take hold of the dart. It was slippery from the blood but soon he was able to take hold of it, pulling it back slowly through the hold it had made through Keith's torso, finally dropping the still-spinning dart in a try beside the table.

"That's that. Now to look for damaged organs." His fingers dug back into the wound to feel around but Keith had stopped trying to move away. He was too exhausted to writhe and his whole body hurt but at least his heart kept on beating, albeit weakly. While Coran worked on him, Shiro kept speaking, whispering soft assurances in Keith's ear, his voice soft and low. He never responded so Shiro only hoped Keith could still hear him.


	5. Chapter 5

Once the dart was removed the paladins were able to breathe a bit easier but Keith clearly wasn't out of the woods yet. Shiro had to stay behind as he was still hooked up to Keith, keeping him alive, but Allura recommended that the others step outside while Coran worked on their friend. He still needed to do an invasive check to see what was damaged and it was something none of them needed to sit and watch, less they be further traumatized. With some reluctance they left to wash up, returning as soon as possible to pace worriedly outside of the room. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife but no words were spoken between them. What could they possibly say?

In the room, Shiro kept his eyes on Keith's face, choosing that over watching Coran operate on his brother's insides. One hand clenched Keith's tightly while the other stroked gently through the soft black hair. Keith had lost consciousness during the painful procedure though he still let out soft moans and whimpers which cut deeply into Shiro. Coran looked up, having just finished stitching his incision closed and couldn't help but frown at the worried expression on his face.

"Is everything alright?" The man asked, taking in Shiro's slumped form and tired expression.

"His breathing is weak and shallow." Shiro replied.

"I was referring to you, actually." Shiro looked up at him as Coran removed his gloves and rounded the table towards him. Coran lifted Shiro's chin and looked him over carefully. "You've been giving Keith blood this whole time. Do you feel weak or dizzy?"

"He needs it, Coran. I don't think it-"

"It matters. Believe me, it does. If you harm yourself on his account you'd better believe you'd hear about it." Shiro was clearly at his limit so Coran removed the iv from his arm and patched him up. Shiro looked back down at Keith.

"He's still so pale and weak… is he really going to be alright?"

"Now that the dart is taken care of I can run a scanning program to assess his condition but that will take some time. In the meantime, I recommend you get cleaned up and eat something to keep your strength up."

"But-"

"No buts. Now go on."

He wanted to protest, fearing what may happen should he leave Keith's side but he couldn't argue. There was no doubt that he needed a break, even if only a small one. Allura helped him to his feet and led him out into the hall where the others rushed over.

"Shiro! Is Keith okay?!"

"He's alive… Coran is scanning him now." Shiro said softly. "We'll know more once the scan is done." He didn't sound terribly comforting but the others trusted Coran and more than that they trusted Keith's strength and will to live.

"Hunk, can you help Shiro to his room and make sure he eats something?"

"Yeah, of course!" Hunk moved to Shiro's side, swinging one of the man's arms over his shoulder for support before leading him away.

"Is there anything we can do?" Pidge asked, trying to remain calm.

"He still needs blood, but I'm afraid we can't risk taking too much more from Shiro."

"I can help with that." Lance turned to Allura and touched his arm. "I'm what you call a universal donor."

"That would be helpful, thank you. Go on in." Lance nodded and slipped past Allura who nodded in thanks before her eyes fell to the floor, following the trail of blood that stretched down the length of the hall and around the corner. Seeing her concern, Pidge touched her arm gently.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm frightened." Allura admitted, dropping her head. "I'm afraid I don't know much about human anatomy or what damage they can sustain. I want to be strong and say with confidence that he'll make it but I…"

"He'll make it." Pidge assured her. "Humans are nothing if not stubborn and Keith's no exception. You'd be amazed what we can do. Just wait and see…"

Her words warmed Allura's heart and she knelt down to hug the small Paladin, thanking her. She could allow herself to doubt and instead needed to be a pillar of hope in this dark time.

It didn't take long for Hunk to reach Shiro's room, the door sliding open for them.

"Do you need any help getting to the shower, Shiro?" But the older man shook his head and stepped away.

"I'll be fine."

"Okay… I'll go get you some chow and come back then. Okay?" Shiro gave him a wave before closing the door and moving across the room to the bathroom. He started to remove his clothes, starting with his glove, then his over shirt but frowned in dismay when he found his undershirt to have been soaked through with blood as well. The smell of it was permeating the air and it was suffocating. Feeling dizzy from the blood loss and the sheer gravity of the situation he gripped the edge of the counter and took a few deep breaths to steady himself. Slowly he lifted his head to finally look at himself in the mirror, seeing dark circles under his eyes and speckles of red on his face. Blood… Keith's blood. Keith…

Unable to hold it in anymore, Shiro let out a dispirited yell as he swiped his arms across the counter, knocking everything on it to the floor before sinking down to sit on the tile. His shoulders shook as he held his head, unable to restrain the shuddering sobs and the heavy tears. He just couldn't believe such a thing had happened. Keith was hurt, badly, and despite their efforts he may still die at any time. Shiro couldn't help but blame himself for it. After all, he had a bad feeling from the start and yet he did nothing!

Feeling guilt well up inside him he lashed out, slamming his artificial hand against the wall over and over, more pained sobs slipping past his lips until he simply didn't have the strength to continue. Eventually he pulled himself up off the floor and to the shower to finally wash off Keith's blood. What he didn't realize was that Hunk never left. Instead, he waited just outside Shiro's room to make sure he was alright but even though he heard the yells and banging he didn't enter. He knew this was something Shiro needed to let out, for his own good. Hunk also wanted to cry but for the time being he knew it was important for him to stay calm and hopeful for the sake of the team.

He stayed until he heard the shower turn on, confident that Shiro wouldn't do anything drastic and made his way to the kitchen. By the time he returned, Shiro was redressed and sitting on his bed, hair still dripping while a towel lay next to him. Hunk sighed and set the tray of food next to him before grabbing the towel to dry his friend's hair.

"As soon as you eat, we'll head back and see how Coran's scan is going." He said, receiving a silent nod in response. This was so unlike Shiro… Stopping in his movements, Hunk spoke again, softer. "I'm sorry."

The sudden apology caught Shiro off guard and he lifted his head. Hunk was wearing an expression of guilt.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I'm partly responsible for this. If Lance and I hadn't gotten ourselves kidnapped then Keith wouldn't have been injured trying to rescue us."

So, he wasn't the only one who felt responsible. Somehow that made Shiro feel slightly better as bad as it sounded. Shiro's expression softened and he set a hand on Hunk's shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile.

"It's not your fault, Hunk. None of us could have predicted this… and ultimately, throwing blame around isn't going to help Keith recover. He's here now and he'll be safe inside the castle."

Hunk smiled in return, happy that Shiro was coming out of his funk- and that the older man didn't blame him for the unfortunate outcome. With renewed hope, Hunk sat down as Shiro ate, sharing with him the interesting parts of the trip down to the planet.

Back in the medical bay, Keith was still laying on the examination table, now wrapped securely with warm blankets with a breathing mask over his face. The rest of the castle's occupants were not far away, examining one of their healing pods which was not functioning as it should. Try as they might, they couldn't get it to stay working for more than a minute or so. Coran and Pidge were tinkering with the internal mechanism while Allura and Lance stood nearby.

"I just don't get it… why doesn't this confounded machine work when we need it to?" Coran scratched his head, occasionally glancing back to Keith to ensure he was still alright.

"You're sure it was working earlier, Coran?" Pidge asked, sitting atop the pod with his floating robot companion.

"Yes of course! It's never acted up like this before."

"Maybe the universe just hates us." Lance said, pouting. He wasn't the type to believe in fate but with all the bad luck they were running into there had to be some kind of explanation.

"I doubt it's something that dramatic, Lance." Pidge crossed her arms and closed her eyes to think before something occurred to her. "Hey wait… we've been having problems with an electrical interference, right?"

"Well, yes. I'm afraid the planet we're currently nearby was letting off some strange wave patterns that was disrupting our communications."

"Right. And Lance, you and Hunk had trouble firing up the away ship, didn't you?"

"Yeah we did, but we kinda chalked that up to the furry creatures. We thought they had messed with things."

"What if they didn't? What if all of these problems- the ship, the coms and the healing pod- are all being disrupted by this planet?"

"That's a solid theory!" Coran was impressed by such a deduction, but there was a problem with it. "However, once we had the ship on board Allura had already started moving the ship away from the planet. I doubt we're still in range of the signal."

"Hmm… that would leave one explanation… The energy waves must have affected the castle's internal systems already, like a virus infecting a computer."

"Ugh, if that's the case then what are we supposed to do? We can't debug the whole castle just like that!"

"No, I'm afraid not. It will take time but I will have to go through the castle's individual systems with a fine tooth comb to completely correct the issue." That would mean a lot of work for Coran, not that he wasn't up to the task.

"In the meantime, maybe we can debug just the pod so we can get Keith inside to heal."

"It's worth a shot!" Pidge plugged a small computer into the control panel for the pod and with Coran's help the two were able to reboot it, the machine coming to life soon after. The lights came on and the pod door slid open, ready for use. However, before they could get too excited, Lance stepped up.

"Guys, call me paranoid but I really think we should test this out before shoving Keith in there. You know, make sure it's actually working?"

"Right. A test run would be a good idea! But who…"

"I'll do it." Lance volunteered, already taking off his jacket. "I've been in it once before, after all. If something feels off then I'll be able to let you know."

"You sure, Lance?" Pidge slid off the machine, adjusting her glasses. Suddenly she wasn't feeling confident. If the universe was indeed working against them then this could be disastrous. But they did need to check it, les they cause more harm.

"Yeah, no sweat!" Lance rolled his shoulders and flashed a confident smile. "So enough chit chat. Lets get this puppy running!"

Lance confidently stepped inside the pod and let Coran hook up a few monitoring probes up to his body before the door slid closed. They punched in the activation code and the pod lit up on the inside. A laser scanner flashed over Lance, registering that a subject was in place before he pod started to fill with greenish liquid. The sight of it freaked Lance out just a little bit but Coran was standing in sight for comfort.

"Uh, is it supposed to do this? To be honest, I was kinda unconscious in the beginning."

"Don't worry, Lance. This is supposed to happen. Just remain calm."

"Right. Calm. Gotcha." Lance took a deep breath, the liquid passing knee level. "I can do this. Heh, it's no big deal. It's cool, I'm cool!" The liquid rose up to his hips now and Lance could feel it getting colder. Supposedly the pod relied on cryogenic freezing so in theory once the liquid fills the pod then it'll freeze up and he'll be put into a nice gentle state of hibernation. Though if he'd thought this through, he would have kept his jacket on.

The liquid was up to his chest now and it was so cold it caused Lance to shiver. He wrapped his arms around himself as the level got higher and higher. He tried to remain calm but when he looked out at the others, they suddenly didn't look so confident. They were talking to each other and Pidge was again on the computer. It was hard to hear.

"Guys? Guys, what's going on? Hello?" Lance tapped on the glassy surface. That's when he saw it, a small flash on the outer panel of the pod. That's when he knew he'd made a mistake. He knocked more insistently on the glass, the liquid rising to his collar.

"Guys? I-I suddenly don't feel okay with this. Turn it off, okay? Guys, hello?" At this point, everyone on the outside was beginning to panic and so was Lance. He was now banging on the glass, willing it to open and release him but it wouldn't budge. The group had quickly abandoned their efforts to turn it off normally and were now attempting to pry it open, with little success.

Lance was quickly losing feeling in his extremities as the liquid rose up to his neck. The cold was biting his skin like pinpricks, a million at once all over his body. Lance let out a raspy gasp, the pod so cold he could see his breath. If he was lucky he would only have a couple more seconds to breathe and so he lifted his head high and took in a deep breath just before the pod filled completely.

Holding his breath in the cold was exceedingly difficult but he knew if he opened his mouth that he'd die so he put his hands over his face in an effort to hold it in and give the team more time to get the pod open. He kept one eye on them as they struggled but so far, none of their efforts were working. They'd begun to scramble, searching for anything they could to knock against the glass.

The longest Lance had ever tried to hold his breath was 90 seconds and as he watched the others, he counted in his head. His body tensed from the cold his vision was blurring, barely able to remain focused as he neared the two minute mark. Lance willed them to hurry, his head beginning to hurt and his lungs burning. He tried so hard to hold it but the pressure was too much and soon the need for air was just too intense. He was past his limit and suddenly his mouth opened, air bubbles escaping from his mouth as his body attempted to breathe through the thick fluid. It hurt, burning his throat like acid which caused him to choke, writhing in the pod helplessly.

It was at this moment that the door to the infirmary opened and Shiro stepped inside with Hunk. Their attention went immediately to the group who were yelling at the pod and banging on the surface of it. In a panic, they rushed over.

"What happened?!" Shiro yelled, seeing Lance struggling inside.

"We were testing it and it malfunctioned! We can't stop it!"

"Someone do something! He's going to drown!" Allura cried out, tears in her eyes as Lance's body started to go limp, his eyes rolling back.

Without hesitation, Shiro powered up his robotic arm. His hand glowed brightly as he pulled it back and thrust it into the center of the pod. He was able to puncture through it with ease. It splintered around his hand before the whole surface shattered, releasing cold fluid all over the floor. Lance's body fell unceremoniously to the floor, his lungs suddenly assaulted by the rush of air. The group gathered around him, rubbing his back as he coughed up copious volumes of the liquid, his body trembling hard. Allura was quick to fetch him a blanket and wrapped it around him before Shiro pulled him close to warm him.

"Holy hell… what were you thinking, Lance?"

"Just…" Lance replied between hoarse coughs. "Just wanted to check…"

"Yeah well that check was a bust! You almost died!"

"Ugh…! Hunk groaned, sinking backwards onto the floor, not even caring that he'd have to change his clothes again. "My poor heart can't take this!"

"Yeah no kidding…" The group was relieved that Lance was alright but dismayed at the same time, looking up at the definitely out of commission pod.

"There's no way we can use that thing now." That meant there was only one option left: Keith would have to heal on his own, the long way. On top of that, the rest had to make sure they didn't injure themselves before the pod, and potentially the whole ship, could be properly repaired.


	6. Chapter 6

After his close call, Lance was rather shaken up. Despite his assurances that he was fine his body was trembling and his throat was still burning from inhaling the healing pod's strange fluid. Allura insisted that he rest and was promptly led away to recover in his room. Shiro wanted to go with him to make sure he was alright but he also felt an obligation to remain at Keith's side… who had yet to regain consciousness. While the others cleaned up, Shiro returned to his side, checking on his condition.

While Keith's coloring was starting to look better, his breathing was still shallow and his brow was knit slightly as though he was in pain. Coran soon came over to check on him as well and saw the worry etched into Shiro's face.

"I hate seeing him in pain like this… especially when I know there's nothing I can do to help."

"I understand…" Coran wished he could be more helpful but he now had another patient to tend to: the Castle of Lions. Still, he couldn't completely ignore his other charge so he made sure to properly instruct Shiro on how to care for the young paladin while he was away- showing him how to change his bandages and how much medicine to administer to his wounds as well as changing the IV bag hooked to his arm. Shiro offered to give Keith more blood as well but Coran wouldn't let him. Soon, the room cleared and left only Shiro and Keith but the room soon became too quiet- almost to the point of it being unnerving for Shiro so he spoke.

"Hey Keith… can you hear me?" There was obviously no response so he sighed deeply and hung his head, clutching Keith's hand tightly.

"Look, I… I know I'm hard on you sometimes. I'm judgmental and don't always give you the benefit of the doubt and I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Keith. I'll try harder, I promise. I'll stop trying to push you."

Keith made a soft noise of pain, his brow knitting together and Shiro gently stroked his fingers through his hair to calm him until the moment passed and he settled back down.

"Keith… I really need you to be okay. You mean so much to me… and I… there are things we need to talk about." Shiro remembered what Keith had said over the radio just before they got to him and it still caused his heart to ache. He'd never heard Keith say such hopeless things before but even worse… it was almost as though he was asking for Shiro's permission… to give up.

"We need to talk things over, just you and me so… don't you dare give up. Fight, Keith. Stay with me… Voltron needs you. ….I need you."

Silence followed for a long time after that. Shiro wanted Keith to be ok, to open his eyes and tell him he was worrying too much like usual but at the same time he knew Keith had a long recovery ahead of him and hoped he would sleep through the worst of it. Every few hours he would check Keith's wounds, noting his observations for Coran before redressing the wounds. It was hard work but he simply refused to relinquish his watch to rest, despite the other's assurances. Ultimately this was something Shiro needed to do for his own sake. And so he sat, watched and waited, hardly taking his eyes off of Keith. However, after a full day and a half he just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and unintentionally drifted off to sleep.

In his dream he was wandering in a dark place. It was cold, empty… No matter how far Shiro walked nothing changed. Until suddenly he started to hear a voice calling out to him from the darkness.

"Shiro?" Shiro turned, recognizing the voice calling out.

"Keith?" He turned around but still couldn't see anything. "Where are you? I can't see you."

"Shiro? Are you there? It's so cold…" Keith's voice was sounding weaker, much like it had over the communicator. Fear was rising inside of Shiro as he began to run, desperately searching for the source of the voice.

"I'm here, Keith! Keep talking so I can find you!"

"Shiro… Shiro…" Keith kept calling his name, his voice growing weaker and weaker until finally, after running so far and so long Shiro saw something. A faint light was growing in the middle of the darkness and in the center of that bright light he saw a figure, slowly moving towards it.

"Keith…. Keith!"

The figure stopped and turned slightly, smiling at Shiro.

"Shiro...Sorry. I have to go now." He then turned back, moving closer and closer to the light. Shiro knew what this meant and reached out for him, still running.

"No, Keith… Stop! Don't go that way! Stop!"

Shiro feared he wouldn't be able to make it in time but by some miracle he reached Keith before the light could overtake him completely and pulled him back towards him. In an instant the light disappeared and Shiro let out a shaky sigh of relief, gripping Keith's arm firmly.

"Thank goodness…. Keith, I thought you had…. Keith?" Shiro's relief was short lived as Keith's body wobbled before collapsing limply into Shiro's arms. Confused, Shiro carefully lowered him gently to the floor, cradling him in his arms.

"Keith? Hey, what's wrong? Keith, answer me!" He shook the slight frame gently, willing his eyes to open but he suddenly felt something wet. Pulling his hand up he saw that it was completely covered in blood.

"K-Keith…" It was then that he strained his eyes to see through the dark, gliding his hand back down Keith's body to his abdomen. What he felt there was a gaping hole, the scent of blood immediately assaulting his senses. Keith coughed weakly, blood pouring from his mouth as it was from his abdomen. Alarmed, Shiro pressed his hand firmly against the wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.

"No…. no no no! Keith, hang in there! Stay with me, Keith!" Already the blood was pooling around his fingers and Shiro pressed harder, desperate. Despite the pain he must have been in Keith opened his eyes and smiled up at him, lifting a hand to rest it on Shiro's cheek.

"It's okay, Shiro… you don't have to do that. I'm ready…"

"No…" Shiro's eyes burned as hot tears streamed down over his cheeks, droplets falling onto Keith's bloodstained face. "Keith, you can't give up like this… I need you to be okay!"

"Shiro… You have to let me go. It's okay-"

"It wont be okay, goddamnit!" Shiro interrupted him, holding him closely. Emotions were filling Shiro up, ready to spill out of him. Words he never had the courage to admit before burned his tongue, begging to be said aloud. "I need you here with me, Keith! I need you, you hear? Because I-"

This time, Keith interrupted him. He moved his hand from his cheek, leaving a blood smear before placing a finger over Shiro's lips. He was still smiling, his eyes half lidded but calm.

"Don't say something… that you'll only regret, Shiro. Don't say something you can't take back."

All of a sudden, the white light appeared again, this time forming underneath them, coming up from the ground where Shiro couldn't escape it.

"Keith… no, Keith…" Shiro clutched Keith's hand tightly, the tears still falling. "Please!"

"It's ok, Shiro… So don't…. cry…"

And then suddenly Keith's body disintegrated into tiny spheres of light, his last words echoing around Shiro who was struck still in shock. His still bloody hands shook as he watched the spheres linger around him, slowly disappearing before his eyes.

"Keith… N-no…. KEITH!"

Suddenly, Shiro's eyes snapped open, his arm stretching above him as he awoke from his nightmare. His heart was pounding painfully in his chest and he was covered in a thin layer of sweat. He hadn't intended to yell out and the suddenness of it startled Allura who nearly dropped her tray of equipment, standing at his side.

"Shiro…..?" She cautiously approached him and touched his arm, drawing his attention back to her as he struggled to remember how to breathe. After a few moments he was able to regain his composure and sat up, holding his head. The room was spinning at first so Allura supported him until he was fully awake once more.

"Are you alright?"

"I… Yeah. Sorry, I'm okay now…" Shiro wasn't okay, though. The dream had rocked him to his core and even now the images lingered with him. Looking down at his hand he could almost still feel the thick blood coating it but there was nothing. "Just a bad dream…."

"Aren't you a bit old… to still have nightmares…?" A soft voice called from the other end of the room. Shiro's eyes widened and Allura smiled, stepping aside to Shiro could see the other bed where Keith was laying, his head now turned to face him. He still looked weak and exhausted and his oxygen mask was muffling his words but he was alive… and awake!

"Keith…" Shiro quickly swung his legs over the edge of the bed and ran to Keith's side, immediately taking his hand. "You're awake!"

"Yeah…"

"He awoke just a few minutes before yourself." Allura explained, walking over to them. "Coran will be back soon so try not to move about until then. You're still in bad shape."

"Hope it wont be long… Maybe I'll run… some laps to pass the time…" Shiro couldn't help but snicker at Keith's weak attempt at humor.

"Yeah right. I'm sure he'd love that." He teased, tousling his hair softly. "You nut…"

Keith made a face at Shiro's affectionate teasing but it wasn't as though he had the strength to tease back. In fact he barely had the energy to move his head to look around the room. Still pumped full of pain killers the whole room looked like it was wobbly.

"I feel weird… and it's a bit hard to breathe….." his eyes fell back to Shiro who was back to wearing his concerned expression. "How long have I been out?"

"….A couple days now. Your condition was pretty touch and go for a while there… we were worried. ….I was worried."

A couple days? How was that possible? Keith knew that the castle had advanced technology and had seen first hand the amazing technological wonder that was the healing pod.

"What happened…? Why am I still-?" Keith attempted to move, even slightly but the shift sent an immediate jolt of pain straight through him from both the hole in his abdomen and his broken ribs, forcing him back down. His eyes clenched tightly as he waited for the wave to dissipate, only noticing once it was faded that Shiro had set a hand on his chest.

"Keith…"

"Shiro, what…. Why does it still hurt?" Shiro's gaze fell for a moment before meeting Keith's pained expression.

"I'm afraid there's something wrong with the castle. A lot of the systems are down, including the healing pod. We couldn't risk putting you inside it…"

"Poor Lance nearly died trying to test it out." Allura added, the memory still haunting her. Keith's eyes widened and he attempted to move again, only to be held still by Shiro.

"Lance- is he okay?"

"He's fine, Keith. He wasn't seriously hurt. But you are so stop trying to move."

Somehow, being told not to do something made Keith's body ache to move but even so he obeyed and attempted to take a deep breath. That was just as painful as trying to move. It sent him into a ragged coughing fit that sent more painful jolts through him- that is, until Shiro pressed a hand lightly to his side and applied gentle, targeted pressure. It helped and soon the coughing stopped, allowing Keith to relax.

"O-ow…. That… really sucked."

"Yeah, I bet." Shiro responded, releasing him. "But I'm afraid that's my fault. In trying to revive you I accidently broke some of your ribs."

"Gee… thanks… I always wondered what a… broken bone felt like." Keith replied sarcastically, but in a somewhat affectionate way so Shiro wouldn't feel guilty about it. It didn't work but Shiro still tried to smile. Keith closed his eyes, feeling suddenly tired again despite sleeping a couple days. …a couple…. His eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Wait, days? Exactly how long have I-"

"It's the 28th, Keith. According to your Earh calendar." Allura said with some idea what he was panicking about. But, hearing that he did calm down and smiled.

"Good…. I'm glad. I haven't missed it…"

Shiro's brow knit in disappointment. Here he was barely escaping death and the first thing he worries about is missing a birthday party? That party, his birthday, was the reason all this happened! That was reason enough for Shiro to be displeased.

"Keith, that's not important."

"What's not?" Keith was clearly still committed to keeping this secret and while he hated to do it, he knew it didn't matter.

"Just forget about the party, Keith." Keith's eyes opened and immediately he looked angry.

"Aw geez… who told you? Was it Lance? Bet it was Lance…."

"No one told me. You all just suck at keeping secrets." Shiro sighed and sat back in his chair. "Anyway, there are more important things than a stupid birthday party so just forget it, alright?"

"It's not stupid." Keith fought back, feeling a bit of energy fill him up. He managed to push himself up slightly. "But if you can't appreciate it then fine, we'll just forget it!"

"Fine by me." The two were having an intense stare-off and the tension in the air concerned Allura. She was attempting to break it up when the door opened.

"Both of you, please…!"

"Oi, you wake up from a long nap and you're already fighting? Geez, that didn't take long!" Lance's comment snapped the boys out of their glaring match. Behind him, the rest of the Paladins entered followed by Coran. He and Pidge looked like they hadn't slept much.

"Lance… hey, are you okay?" Keith looked Lance over but the boy waved off the incident like it was nothing… even though it was most definitely SOMETHING.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Better off than you, anyway. How're you feeling?"

"Aside from pissed off….?" Keith glanced at Shiro before sighing and laying back down. "I feel like I got run over by a jeep."

"I'd say that's about right." Coran stepped up to the bed and examined Keith. He noted the improved coloring and saw that the puncture and incision had stopped bleeding at last. But his side was bruising already as a result of the breaks.

"Hmm…."

"You gonna tell me how bad it is?" Keith asked, slightly impatient at this point. "How long am I going to feel like this?"

"I'm afraid the damage was extensive. The dart you were stuck with," Coran began, retrieving the dart which he had placed in a jar to show Keith. "It borrowed in pretty deeply, hitting your liver as well as tearing through muscle tissue. That will take quite some time to heal and runs the risk of infection. At the same time, you have two broken ribs which runs the an unfortunate possibility of contracting pneumonia."

"You can get that from broken ribs?" Hunk asked, confused.

"If his lungs can't expand properly to take in enough oxygen then yes." Pidge explained, adjusting her glasses. The others were staring at her, some impressed and some just confused as to why she would suddenly know that off the top of her head. "I read quite a few of my dad's medical textbooks when I was younger."

"Of course you did." Lance said, shaking his head.

"That is very helpful information, Pidge. We'll do what we can to manage the pain as you're recovering but we still need to be very careful."

"Why's that?" Keith asked, feeling overwhelmed.

"Because you're half Galra." He said, matter of factly. "And because of that I don't know how your body will react to our medicines. They're not necessarily universal and we've never tested them on someone like you before so if you feel anything strange you should tell us immediately."

"Oh great." Keith sighed deeply again, wincing.

"Sorry I don't have better news."

"It's alright, Coran…. Thanks for getting that thing out of me."

"You're welcome."

Now that Keith understood the severity of his wounds, Coran gave him another round of pain killers before helping him sit up in the bed. Keith was grateful that he didn't have to stay in the medical bay during his whole recovery as he was anxious to get back to his room and his somewhat-comfortable bed.

"So can I go now? I want to lay back down."

"Sure. But don't try to move around on your own just yet. If you need help don't hesitate to call one of us."

"Right…"

Shiro, who had been silent for some time, reached out to grab Keith's arm but the boy pulled it just out of his reach, avoiding eye contact. Being rejected hurt Shiro a bit but after a fight they usually did need some time apart to cool down. Still, getting into an argument wasn't what he'd planned to do right after Keith woke up.

Seeing as that matchup wasn't going to work out, Lance volunteered and helped pull Keith into a barely-stable upright condition. They said farewell to the others before starting the long, painful trek to Keith's room. Along the way, Lance noticed just how irritated Keith seemed to be. And he doubted it had to do with his prognosis.

"You wanna tell me what's eating you?"

"….He doesn't understand. Stupid Shiro…"

Ah. That. Sighing, Lance shook his head.

"Seriously? You two are like oil and water sometimes… Why were you guys fighting anyway?"

"He brushed off the party. His birthday. Told me it was stupid…"

"And that's worth fighting over?"

"…..He doesn't get what it means."

The two finally made it back to Lance's room where Keith eyed his bed longingly. But Lance wasn't ready to drop the issue.

"…..Look Keith. I don't think you should be angry with Shiro right now. I mean, look at what happened. You almost died… and Shiro was more devastated than the rest of us. He totally lost his cool."

"You mean disappointed? That I went and got myself hurt like an idiot?"

"No…. I mean that he was afraid to lose you. He thought he was going to have to watch you die and it scared him. It scared all of us."

His words got through to Keith, breaking past his wall of stubbornness and his features softened.

"….I know that…" He said softly, sadly. "But I really… was stupid. If I hadn't insisted on going back for it, then…" Keith sighed and shook his head, settling back on a mound of pillows that Lance had set up for him without his knowing. He felt so tired and weak still and he'd used up all his energy already on just arguing with Shiro.

"Even if it was stupid… I understand why you did it." It was then that Lance pulled something out of one of the cabinets in the room, wrapped in a nice cloth. He brought it to Keith, setting it down on his lap before heading for the door. "I know what you were trying to do, so… don't be so hard on yourself. Or Shiro."

Keith looked down at the object, shifting the cloth aside slightly, his eyes widening as he realized what it was. Seeing it did make Keith feel better, more invigorated, and he looked up just as Lance was about to leave.

"Hey Lance."

"Yeah?" The brunette looked back, happy to see a determined expression returning to Keith's face.

"I need you… to do something for me."


	7. Chapter 7

After his fight with Keith, Shiro decided to let off some steam in the exercise room, wailing on a punching bag. He just couldn't understand what was going through his head! Keith almost died and yet he was going on about some stupid birthday party? Didn't he even care about how worried he and the others were? Why did he have to treat it like it was nothing? After all they went through?!

" _Don't bother."_

Shiro's fist stopped short of the bag as he remembered Keith's words. He told them not to bother, to stop trying to save him… The memory caused Shiro's hand to shake before moving to grip the front of his shirt over his heart, his anger quickly shifting to hurt… He'd never heard Keith talk like that before, like he was ready to give up and die just like that. Keith was the stubborn one, the hot head… Out of everyone he always seemed like he had the strongest will, but now…

" _I'm tired… of always messing up."_ He'd said. _"You don't need someone like that…"_

Shiro's mind then went back to his disturbingly realistic dream and how eerily similar it was to what actually happened, the two scenes merging together in his mind. He saw the pained expression on Keith's face as the color drained from his skin and the light faded from his eyes. It really felt like Keith was slipping away, telling him goodbye. When he awoke he expected to find Keith dead! It felt like his last chance to be honest with Keith, to tell him what he'd always stopped himself from saying aloud and yet… even then he couldn't do so, like even his subconscious was telling him not to.

" _Don't say something… that you'll only regret, Shiro. Don't say something you can't take back."_

"Regret…. Huh?" Shiro said softly, moving to a nearby wall to slide down to the floor. He looked down at his left hand which still trembled badly after the incident. "Is that it…?" If he were to really come out and say it would he regret it? It would change things between the two of them for sure… but….

Though he wasn't sure if he was ready to come out with that, he knew he still had to address the things Keith had said aboard the skiff. They needed to talk about it… So after a few moments of steadying himself emotionally he rose back up and made his way to Keith's room. When he reached his room Shiro almost laughed at a crudely written note on the outside reading "No Shiros Allowed." It was comical but also concerning. Keith had naturally nice handwriting but his hands were clearly unsteady if the jagged lines were any indication. That brief moment of thought opened up a faint crack in his resolve, just enough for hesitation to slip in. For that moment he considered abandoning his mission and returning to his room but as he turned to leave he heard a series of coughs from the other side of the door followed by muffled yells of pain.

Panic overtook Shiro once more and he quickly rushed inside, eyes darting towards the bed. His heart was pounding in his chest, expecting the worst. Keith was lying awkwardly on his side, his shirt pulled half off and while he was raggedly coughing and taking shallow, labored breaths he was tightly hugging his chest. Keith's eyes opened partway, giving Shiro a helpless expression.

"S-Shiro…"

"I'm coming, Keith, hang on." Shiro rushed over to him, prying his hands away from his chest and helping him shift back onto his back. Then Shiro cupped his hand over Keith's damaged ribs and lightly applied pressure like he'd done before, his other hand cradling the back of Keith's neck. The pressure helped to relieve some of the pain.

"Just take it easy. Take slow, deep breaths alright?"

"I-it hurts…"

"I know it does, Keith but it'll pass. Just breathe…."

It took several minutes but eventually Keith's coughing subsided and he was able to settle back down. He was shaking now, eyes shut and sweating but he wasn't the only one shaking. Shiro watched him carefully, waiting to see if Keith was really alright. Eventually Keith reopened his eyes, the pain having died down considerably.

"Shiro…?"

"Yes Keith? What it is?"

"You can… let go now…"

Shiro hadn't realized he was still touching him until then. He looked down at his hand, pressed against Keith's pale yet still soft skin. He only faintly wished it was his fleshy hand making contact. But he didn't say that aloud- he just couldn't- and he slowly released him and pulled his shirt back down, noticing the change in Keith's breathing as he did so.

"Nng…" Keith groaned. "The pressure helps… ironic, isn't it?"

"…"

"Can't we just wrap something around…?"

"I'm afraid we can't." Shiro said, lingering by the edge of the bed. "If we do that it'll prevent you from breathing deep enough. It could make you very sick."

"Deep breath…? I can't breathe now anyway…!" Shiro understood Keith's concerns and he knew from experience how painful it was to have injured ribs. He suffered many wounds while under enemy capture. "This sucks…"

"I know and I'm sorry." He just couldn't apologize enough. Keith had enough healing to do if not for his rib breaks but it couldn't be helped. Or maybe it could…. "What were you trying to do, anyway?"

"…..I wanted a different shirt…" Keith said softly with a bit of a pout. What trouble he was in that he couldn't even change his own clothes.

"I'll help you with that."

"Just forget it." Keith said, looking away. He wasn't prepared to even risk a repeat of that incident just yet. Shiro didn't argue, instead pulling up a chair and settling down into it, arms crossed. The room was silent for a few minutes until Keith finally spoke again, almost making Shiro jump.

"By the way…"

"Mm? What is it?"

"….Can't you read?" This time, Shiro couldn't stop himself from smiling. No matter the situation, Keith was always Keith. Always snarky. Almost… Shiro shook his head, hiding his smile as Keith turned his head to half-heartedly glaring at him.

"I can read just fine. But that chicken scratch on the door hardly qualified as words. You'll have to try harder than that to keep me away."

"….You're mean."

Shiro chuckled then and relaxed, leaning forward to lightly tousle Keith's hair. The teen was too sore and tired to brush his hand away.

"You'll get better, Keith. It'll take longer than you want it to but you'll heal. You're still…" Suddenly the sadness started sinking in again, fear and hurt showing on Shiro's face. Keith saw this and his expression also softened.

"Shiro…? You okay?"

"….No, Keith. I don't think I am." Shiro sighed and shook his head, moving in closer. "Keith… we really need to talk about what happened."

"You know what happened… Lance and Hunk told you, didn't they?"

"That's not what I mean. I'm talking about… what you said right before we found you. What you told me… about giving up?"

Keith's eyes immediately darted away and it was clear that he didn't want to talk about that. Which meant, of course, that they absolutely needed to talk.

"Keith." Shiro pressed him, gently, but he wouldn't turn his way or respond. The expression on his face was clearly distressed but whether it was from guilt or something else Shiro couldn't be sure. Shiro tried again. "Keith, please."

"Just forget it already!" Keith snapped at him, attempting to roll onto his side away from Shiro. Before he could manage it, however, Shiro took his shoulder and pushed him onto his back once more. He had one knee on the bed, his hands on either side of Keith's head and the suddenness of it seemed to startle Keith. His eyes widened and for a moment and he actually looked scared… and vulnerable. Shiro didn't want to force him but this was the only way to break through his stubbornness.

"I wont forget it, Keith. I can't…" His voice softened which seemed to relieve Keith slightly. But he still turned his eyes away, unable to look at him dead on.

"Why…?"

"Because it scared me, Keith. It sounded like you were saying goodbye and I'm not ready yet. I'm not ready to let you go."

"I was just being realistic." Keith finally said, looking up at him. "Everything was fading, Shiro… I just didn't want to give you false hope."

"False hope is better than no hope at all. Yeah we cut it close there but…" Shiro gently lifted one hand to cup Keith's cheek, stroking softly with his thumb. "I wasn't about to give up on you."

"Even though I'm hot-headed and abrasive and…not like you."

"I don't expect you to be me, Keith. I want you to be yourself." Shiro felt bad, remembering just how hard and judgmental he'd been of Keith over the years. It was clear to him now just how much Keith valued his approval. Keith tried so hard to be the person Shiro wanted him to be, so when he made mistakes it really hurt him. "Keith… I want you to be you… this team needs you."

"Don't lie." Keith said, finally shutting his eyes and turning his head away. "I'm replaceable and everyone knows it."

"Keith…!" Shiro couldn't believe he was hearing this. Since when had Keith started having these feelings? ….Come to think of it, his attitude did start to change after he learned about his heritage. Maybe he felt that he no longer deserved a place on the team. Unwilling to accept this answer, Shiro stroked his cheek once more, his voice softening.

"If you think that then it must mean the rest of us are disposable as well. Myself included." Keith's eyes shot open and he looked back up at Shiro with a strangely desperate expression. His hands rose off the bed to lightly clutch Shiro's shirt.

"You're wrong…!" Keith said, his voice shaky. "Shiro, you're perfect. You're exactly what Voltron needs… no one could replace you!"

"Then trust my judgment and believe me when I say it needs you, too." Keith's words warmed his heart and he lowered down, pressing his forehead against Keith's. The younger's hands slipped upward more to weakly wrap around his torso in a hug and Shiro wished he could do more to comfort him without potentially causing him harm.

It was during this moment that something in the back of Shiro's mind spoke up. Feelings long since buried were floating back towards the surface and it was becoming harder for Shiro to hold them back. He had been waiting for the right moment… was this that moment? Shiro opened his mouth to speak but no words would come out. Butterflies were suddenly swarming in his stomach and fear was welling up inside him. What if he was misreading the situation? What if Keith rejected him or flat out hated him? He didn't want to take advantage of someone in his position but even so he just couldn't help but feel that it needed to be said! After all, he almost lost his chance. Taking in a somewhat shaky breath, Shiro pulled back and stared down at Keith who looked a bit confused.

"Keith… There's something I have to say to you… and you don't have to respond if you don't want to."

"O…kay. What is it?" This was it. This was the moment! Even so Shiro still struggled to force the words out.

"I…" He was hesitating. He didn't want the moment to pass but he just couldn't get past the fear. "This is really hard to say…"

"Shiro, what's wrong?" Shiro's hesitation was alarming and Keith cupped Shiro's cheek, hoping to calm him down. What was he trying to say? Either way it looked like he was about to cry.

"It's okay. Whatever it is you can tell me. I'll help you."

The skin to skin contact felt nice… Shiro's eyes softly closed and a smile gradually made its way back onto his face as his hand fell over Keith's. He was warm… This was enough. That's what Shiro thought, anyway. For now, this was enough for him.

"Nothing… Nothing's wrong. Thanks, Keith."

Keith returned the smile and the two shared a silent moment together, staring into each other's eyes. That is, until that silence was broken by Allura clearing her throat. Neither had heard her enter, nor did they know how long she'd been standing there watching them, causing the boys to blush, noticing the almost intimate closeness. Shiro sat up and cleared his throat.

"Oh uh, sorry Allura. I didn't see you there."

"And how long exactly were you standing there?" Keith asked, accusingly.

"Keith." Shiro gently scolded, looking towards the door. "Sorry. Did you need something?"

Allura smiled softly, amused by their sudden embarrassment but she didn't mention it. "I just came to see how Keith was holding up."

She walked further into the room and looked him over. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I guess." Keith responded, only then noticing how much heavier his breathing had gotten. But he could always blame that on his ribs. "Thanks for checking."

"Of course! I regret that we can't heal you right up so if you need anything please don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks. For now, though I think I should get some sleep."

"Alright." Allura glanced over at Shiro next. "Shiro, could I borrow you for a while then? We could use all the help we can get in securing the castle."

"Of course." Shiro looked back down and laid his hand gently on Keith's chest. "I'll be back soon, Keith so you just get some rest."

"Mm." Keith hummed, his eyes already closing. The two headed for the door but even then Shiro hesitated a moment, eyes locked on Keith's frail form before leaving the room with Allura. Immediately his attitude changed, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

"So what's the current state of the castle?" Back to business as usual it seemed but Allura had other ideas.

"What were you about to say to him?"

"Hm?" The two of them stopped walking and Allura gave Shiro an amused smile. This made him feel embarrassed and he looked away. So apparently she'd been standing there a while.

"It was nothing, really."

"I don't think that's true." She stepped up to him, setting a hand on his shoulder. Even through the small contact she could feel his heart fluttering still. "I may not know everything you've been through, but I know what this looks like. You really should say something."

She was so observant… or maybe he was more transparent than he thought. Shiro blushed softly and looked down at the floor.

"It's not that easy, Allura. There are a lot of things that could go wrong if I say it."

"You can't be afraid of being honest, Shiro. He deserves to hear it."

"….I know." Shiro gave her a soft smile followed by a hug before the two of them set back out to meet with the others to see just how much trouble they were in.


	8. Chapter 8

Allura led Shiro through the castle towards the bridge where Coran and most of the group were already waiting. However, Shiro was concerned to not see Lance there. Fearing he was still feeling unwell he was about to offer to check on him only for the door to open up behind him. Lance walked in at a speedy pace, seemingly out of breath but thankfully no worse for wear.

"Sorry I'm late! I was, uh, doing a thing."

"It's fine." Shiro said, relieved. "At least you're here now so we can begin the meeting."

Pidge couldn't help but frown, noticing that they were still short a person.

"I guess Keith isn't coming?"

"No, he's resting right now."

"I see…" Hunk set a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying not to let his own concern show through.

"It's for the best. He went through a lot, ya know?"

"I know…"

The excitement over his awakening was definitely soured by their inability to heal him quickly. Shiro looked around the room and saw all the sad expressions. He decided to take it into his own hands to help pick them up.

"He's going to be fine." He said confidently. "But while he's recovering we can't rely on him to help us out. That's why we're meeting here now, to plan for the worst case scenarios and ensure the castles safety. Coran?"

"Quite right." Coran nodded and perked back up, bringing up a digital blueprint of the castle. "According to my initial scans I've determined that many of the ship's systems have been corrupted by the electrical interference. This unfortunately leaves us vulnerable to attack. We'll need to access several of these control panels and manually reset the system in order to get our defenses back up and running." Coran pointed to several areas of the blueprint which lit up red. The group counted seven areas in total and none of them were excited about it.

"We have to fix all of those?" Hunk groaned. "Just how long is that supposed to take?!"

"If we work together and run the debugging program Pidge set up then we should have it all done before tomorrow morning. Once that's taken care of then we'll have time to worry about fixing other systems."

Hunk and Lance let out exasperating sighs but they knew this had to be done. So the group split up. For the next several hours they worked tirelessly to fix the damaged systems, running into various other problems along the way. Thankfully the debugging program was doing its job but it was still close to 2 AM by the time they finished getting things back online. The bridge lit back up and Coran checked things over.

"Wonderful! We have full power to our shields and defensive systems. Well done, everyone!" Coran turned back to the group only to realize that they looked positively exhausted- almost too tired to be excited about their accomplishment. Giving them a sympathetic smile he crossed his arms.

"Thank you all for your hard work! You've all earned a good rest!"

That seemed to perk them up a bit and Shiro smiled, congratulating them as well before turning and heading out of the room. Allura followed him, catching his arm in the hall before he got too far away.

"Are you going back to Keith's room now?"

"Yeah. I want to make sure he does alright on his first night." Shiro said, turning to address her. Honestly he'd been distracted that whole day thinking about Keith. It wasn't only that he worried about his health… he was also thinking about his almost-confession. He really missed his chance, or so he thought. Allura smiled at him softly.

"You don't have to explain yourself. I understand. But what are you going to do?"

"Do?"

"Are you going to tell him?" She asked, referring to their earlier conversation. Shiro turned his head away slightly, unsure if that was still a good idea. Seeing his hesitation Allura moved closer to hug him.

"You should, you know. Even if he can't hear you, I'm sure it will be a relief to finally say it out loud."

After that bit of advice she smiled and walked back to the room, surprised to still see the tired paladins there.

"Oh, I thought you were all going to sleep."

"So did we. Lance, what're we still doing, you know, conscious?"

The exhaustion was still clear on his face but so was determination. Lance put his hands on his hips and spoke, reinvigorated.

"There's still something we have to do. It's important."

By the time he got back to Keith's room, Shiro was dead tired. He was hoping that Keith was fine so he could get some sleep but it was clear he wouldn't have that luxury. The mountain of pillows had collapsed around him, trapping an unconscious Keith underneath and from his expression he wasn't sleeping very comfortingly. With a sigh, Shiro dropped his jacket on the chair nearby and sat on the edge of the bed, moving the pillows aside. Once uncovered, Shiro gently pulled him into an upright position to rest against his shoulder while he reassembled the pile.

Keith's body was warm against him… unusually warm, but Coran had mentioned that a low-grade fever wasn't unusual during the first few days. Still, he couldn't help but worry about him. However, through the contact he could feel his breath on his shoulder and the soft beating of his heart. That was comforting to him. It felt… nice. Normally Keith was stiff and guarded so it was rare to see him so relaxed. It was a sight he wished he could see more often.

After all that had happened the strain on his body and mind had more than overwhelmed him and he hadn't been able to take a moment to relax so while he knew he shouldn't take advantage of Keith in his vulnerable state Shiro couldn't help but want to be a little selfish. Shiro decided he wasn't ready to let Keith go just yet, wrapping his arm more firmly around his waist while the other combed through his thick black hair. He was displeased to find that though he'd washed Keith's body he'd neglected to take care of his hair as he found flecks of dried blood sticking to the ends. Despite that, the contact still felt nice.

"Keith…" he spoke softly, more to himself than his unconscious patient. "Keith I'm sorry this happened to you. If I had trusted my instincts then… maybe you wouldn't have had to suffer like this."

He knew it was conceited to think he could have prevented this if he had gone, as though his presence alone could have stopped a freak accident. At the same time he didn't want to make it sound like Keith was at fault, either. He was skilled and smart and hardly took risks that he didn't believe would pan out in the end. This was an accident…just an unfortunate accident. But… that wasn't what he wanted to say. He didn't want to keep apologizing over and over.

" _What are you going to do?"_ Allura's words repeated in his mind. What _was_ he going to do? Shiro was still unsure of himself, still unsure if saying what he really wanted to was a good idea but maybe while Keith was asleep…

" _Even if he can't hear you, I'm sure it will be a relief to finally say it out loud."_

He gave it a bit of thought, lightly stroking Keith's cheek to make sure he was asleep before taking a deep breath. It was worth a shot, right?

"To be honest, Keith…. There is something I want to say to you. I don't have the guts to do it when you're awake so… I'll tell you now. I… care about you." Shit, that didn't come out like he meant it to. At least since Keith was asleep he had a chance at a do-over. "What I mean to say is… Over the years you and I have been through a lot together. We've fought side by side, struggled through terrifying situations but… I've never been more scared than I was this time. When I heard you'd gotten hurt, when your heart stopped… I felt like a part of me was dying with you. It made me realize some things about myself. About… us." Shiro's arms tightened around him, his stomach twisting into knots. It sounded cheesy but he didn't know how else to say it.

"You're important to me, Keith. More than just as a teammate, as a friend…. Or as a brother. This accident really got me thinking and I've decided… I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you. If you're not here, Keith, I don't know what I'd do…" he more he spoke the more relieved he felt and it encouraged him to continue. "I don't know what you think of me, or if you could ever return my feelings but I need to say this at least once….. I love you."

When those words left his lips a sudden wave of calm overtook him. It felt so good to say it, like a weight had been lifted off of him at last. He'd never felt so calm and relieved before and for the first time in who knows how long he smiled… he genuinely smiled. The words just rolled right off his tongue and it filled him with such joy he just couldn't help himself.

"I love you, Keith. More than anything."

It was a satisfying moment but one not meant to last as Keith began to stir, groaning against his chest in a painful manner. Clearly being upright for so long was too difficult so Shiro reluctantly released him and lowered him back down onto the bed and covered him back up. He waited for Keith's expression to relax again before standing, intending to wander off to his own room when a hand reached out, taking hold of the hem of his shirt.

"Shiro…?" Keith's voice was soft and heavy with sleep, his eyes half-lidded as he stared up at him. For just a moment Shiro felt panicked, fearing that Keith had heard his bedside confession/

"Are you leaving…?"

The tone of his voice cut into Shiro, as though Keith was sad to see him go and against that, Shiro couldn't possibly leave. He smiled down at Keith, taking a seat in the chair as he gently held his hand, stroking it with his thumb.

"No, Keith. I'm not going anywhere. I promise…"


End file.
